The Soviet space programme was a perfect example of brilliant engineering, polictical sycophantism and infighting and incompetence....
Thought not all at the same time.....
Saying thay they came up with some great stuff. Korolev was a genius.
Chelmoi was smart but was more politically astute which in some ways caused a few problems as funding was split amongst the chosen few and not directed in a specific manner.
This is a good site,
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/index.html