In the Name of the Great Work: Stalin's Plan for the Transformation of Nature and Its Impact in Eastern Europe - Paperbackby Doubravka Olskov (Editor) Beginning in 1948, the Soviet Union launched a series of wildly ambitious projects to implement Joseph Stalin's vision of a total "transformation of nature." Intended to increase agricultural yields dramatically, this utopian impulse quickly spread to the newly communist states of Eastern Europe, captivating political elites and war fatigued publics alike. By the time of Stalin's death, however, these attempts at