This paper offers a close critical analysis of the design and content of the Soviet Secondary School Atlas published in 1951. This edition was created not merely as an instrument of geographical education and training in cartographic literacy, but as a means to instil in Soviet youth the values and principles of the 'high Stalinism' during the early Cold War: the Marxist- Leninist worldview, Russian patriotism, and pride in Soviet achievements. The atlas’ opening map was a hemisphere with the USSR standing out in a bright, flat red. Its centrepiece was a new map of the 'Stalin Plan for the Transformation of Nature', a grandiose exercise in wish- fulfilment. Other maps were to demonstrate the scale and pace of industrialisation, urbanisation, cultural growth, transport construction and territorial integration. The paper is based on a detailed reading of the atlas' constituent maps and on declassified Soviet archival records that permit insights into its production and reception. The paper addresses many inter-related themes, including: the use of colour and symbolism; map design and visual learning; the cartographic construction of spatial and scalar perceptions and geographical knowledge; the ideological framing of cartographic representation; and the communication of temporal change.
