but the core dilemma of the NEP was ideological: seven years into the NEP, socialism (non-capitalism) was not in sight. NEP amounted to grudgingly tolerated capitalism in a country that had had an avowedly anticapitalist or socialist revolution.
This is one of the core thesis of the book, Stalin was a true beliver in the Communist system. He was not going to plah the safe route of keeping the NEP. The time for tactical flexibility was over
