Introduction

Within just a few years of Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet Union had sent the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. An era of renewal and excitement beckoned. Speaking to Danny Bird, Robert Hornsby tells the story of how Soviet society embraced the 1960s – from new prospects for women, to faith in the energy of the young – before the era's promise was snuffed out by the Prague Spring of 1968.

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The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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