The Soviet Navy of World War II boasted a cruiser fleet that was among the most eclectic to see service. In this book, noted military historian and Soviet specialist Alexander Hill explains the role of cruisers in the Soviet Navy, from the drama of 1917 through to the struggle with Nazi Germany. Having inherited a number of Imperial Navy cruisers, the new post-revolution Soviet Navy also went on to complete two unfinished Tsarist light cruisers during the 1920s, before building their first own large warships, the Kirov class. In 1940, Nazi Germany sold the unfinished heavy cruiser Lützow to the USSR, and the final cruiser-sized warship to see action was the former Imperial royal yacht Shtandart, renamed Marti and armed as a minelayer, which was used in the defence of Leningrad. Researched in the main from Russian-language sources, this study explores the evolution of the Soviet cruiser fleet and the considerable action that it saw in World War II, particularly in support of the Red Army.