To say that the greatest economic experiment in history - communism in the USSR - was also the greatest failure is just another attempt to express an idea that is obvious to many. However, Robert Allen in his work gives a completely different, striking interpretation of this historical phenomenon, arguing that the economy of the Soviet Union became one of the most successful developing systems of the 20th century. He is led to such a provocative conclusion by the recalculation of indicators of the national level of consumption, as well as the use, within the framework of the analysis, of economic, demographic and computer simulation models that make it possible to predict alternative options for the country’s economic development, that is, to answer the fundamental question of history “what if?” . In addition, comparing Soviet economic performance not only with advanced economies, but also with a number of less developed countries around the world allows the author to provide a more complete context for the analysis. Robert S. Allen. Farm to factory. A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution. Princeton University Press, 2003.