During the post-World War I period, many European countries were rebuilding, and the Soviet Union saw this as an opportunity to catch up. The Soviet Union, under the government of Joseph Stalin, implemented the Five Year Plan as a strategy for rapid industrialization (Hunt, 846). A prime example of Stalin's five-year plan was the construction of Magnitogorsk, a city based around a huge factory. This construction perfectly captures Stalin's goals of progress, efficiency and the conquest of nature (back cover). The novel Time, forward! took place in 1932 and described, in detail, the construction of Magnitogorsk. This novel alluded to the spirit of the times. In the novel, one of the engineers, Margulies, decided to push concrete pouring to its limits. His rival, assistant chief of construction, Nalbandov wanted Margulies' downfall and decided to expose him. Nalbandov thought of two charges. The first was that Margulies had recklessly sacrificed the quality of cement for increased cement production; this recklessness went against the current scientific understanding of concrete and the quality would not have been sufficient. The second would show that Margulies opposes the Soviet policy of increasing the time, since it does not allow the next shift to pour an even greater quantity of cement (314). The second accusation was less scientific, but more in the spirit of the times because those who hindered progress had to be punished. One might ask: what was the spirit of the times? When Joseph Stalin came to power, he instilled in the public sphere that the Soviet Union would no longer accept backwardness (Hunt, 846). The spirit of the times was centered on progress, efficiency and the conquest of nature; this spirit is what pushed the Soviet Union away from its backwater... middle of paper ...the fight against nature paid off that winter, and the dam was completed; technique won over nature (183). Politically, Margulies' idea once again embodied the spirit of the times, conquered nature for the benefit of the Soviet Union; Stalin would have been proud of Margulies' innovation. Given these points, the spirit of the times was centered on progress, efficiency and the conquest of nature. The Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, wanted to get rid of backwardness and did so in many ways. The city of Magnitogorsk has embodied the spirit in ways including: the rapid creation of the city, record cement production within the city, the creation of new time-efficient cement creation processes, and the conquest of nature in heart of winter. This city was a success for Stalin because it embodied the spirit of the times to create a more efficient and progressive Soviet Union.