Disclaimer: I read the second edition, which was updated in 2002, and is not the most recent one.

As someone relatively new to reading dense history books like this one, I found it engaging and comprehensible. Service does a good job outlining the motives and reasons behind what were often incomprehensible decisions in hindsight, and even employs humor at times. My only real fault with this book was that I felt it didn't emphasize the Holodomor as much as it could have, but I can understand that because it was a Ukrainian event, even if the cause was the Soviet government. Overall I was left satisfied with my level of knowledge and excited to learn more about the specific events that interested me.