Historically considered, the record of Soviet economic management is one of impressive achievement. Russia in 1913 was a backward country by the standards of the time, ‘the poorest of the civilised nations’ in the words of a contemporary but still authoritative account. There was a small but active manufacturing sector, and levels of production in some areas, such as oil and textiles, were fairly high by world standards. The overwhelming majority of the population, however, were engaged in agriculture, only a quarter of them were able to read and write, levels of infant mortality were high, and living standards were very low in comparison with those of other Western nations. National income per head in pre-revolutionary Russia is estimated to have been about 15 per cent of that in the USA and 22 per cent of that in the United Kingdom, and manufacturing output was similarly well below the levels that had been achieved elsewhere at the same date. The United Kingdom, for instance, produced about ten times as much coal and twice as much iron and steel in 1913 as did Russia, with its vastly greater population and natural resources. Labour productivity in industry, according to Soviet official sources, was only a tenth of the level achieved in the United States. And although living standards were improving, they appear to have been improved less rapidly than was the case elsewhere in Europe.