Hello all! I am looking to expand my knowledge of the formative period of the Soviet state. My knowledge of Soviet and Russian history is centered largely on the military and political spectrum and my specific intention is to broaden my horizons by gaining a better understanding of the structural organization of the state and its organs as they evolved 1917-1941. I also have a specific interest in the evolution of Soviet economic organization and planning as well as social policy and the engineering of the new Soviet society. I know it's a broad query and I greatly appreciate your submissions!
I wrote my MA on Soviet nationality policy, specifically during the early (1921-53) years, so I can give some important works relating to that field:
The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939 by Terry Martin is by far the most authoritative work on the subject today. He looks at the way the Bolsheviks first instituted policies towards promoting the non-Russians of the USSR, and then how they ended said policies. Martin's primary focus is on Ukraine, but he does also give some decent coverage of Kazakhstan and some peripheral regions. Highly recommended work.
A State of Nations: Empire and Nation-Making in the Age of Lenin and Stalin edited by Ronald Grigor Suny and Terry Martin. Suny is one of the leading scholars on Soviet nationality policy, and it is not surprising that Martin (who wrote the above-mentioned Affirmative Action Empire) completed his PhD under Suny. This is an edited volume of essays relating to Soviet nationality policy, mainly papers submitted to journals by other leading scholars in the field. They cover a broader ranger than Martin's book (a chapter of which is included here), and take a more in depth look at some specific instances of things that happened.
The Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism 1917 – 1923 by Richard Pipes. Originally written in the 1950s, Pipes' work was the standard on the topic for decades, until scholars like Suny began to challenge the main thesis put forth by Pipes, that the Soviet Union aimed to destroy ethnic minorities rather than promote them. This idea came about in part due to his lack of access to the archives, meaning he couldn't see key documents, but it is still a heavily influential book and worth looking, though knowing that the focus is not supported by mainstream academia anymore is important to remember.
Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 by Stephen Kotkin obviously focuses on Stalin, but he includes bios of all the other major figures in Soviet politics and goes into great detail about the events before and after the Revolutions.
The major flaw in the book is that it ends in 1928 and Kotkin hasn't finished the next volume yet.
Arch Getty's "Practicing Stalinism" deals with the persistence of cronyism and Russian cultural practices in the USSR and how they influenced a lot of the difficulties and errors the Soviets found/made.