This volume investigates how ordinary citizens perceived and reacted to totalitarian rule within the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and post-1945 communist regimes in Poland and East Germany. Edited by Paul Corner, the work brings together a collection of essays from international scholars to challenge the binary framework of consent versus coercion. By examining the complexities of everyday life, the contributors argue that popular opinion was far more multifaceted than traditional historiography suggests, offering a new lens through which to view the stability and eventual decline of these regimes.

Scholars and historians recognize this volume as a significant contribution to the study of totalitarianism for its move away from top-down political analysis. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is best suited for students and researchers interested in the social history of the twentieth century.