Haga has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Boston University. Haga is interested in comparative case study analysis and historical processes. When analysing historical processes, it is important to be aware of national characteristics, such as Russian nationalism. In his book on communist ideology in Russia, his attempt is to show how this failed to materialize as a political system. What was actually totalitarian absolutism was misconstrued as communism. Our understanding of political processes relies upon our understanding of communism as a historical phenomenon. It is therefore time we apply the correct label on a political system of yesteryear. Only when we appreciate what actually took place in Russia from the middle of the nineteenth century until 1991 can we understand what communism is.