Stalin

Description

Of all the despots of our time, Joseph Stalin lasted the longest and wielded the greatest power, and his secrets have been the most jealously guarded—even after his death.

In this book, the first to draw from recently released archives, Robert Conquest gives us Stalin as a child and student; as a revolutionary and communist theoretician; as a political animal skilled in amassing power and absolutely ruthless in maintaining it. He presents the landmarks of Stalin’s rule: the class with Lenin; collectivization; the Great Terror; the Nazi-Soviet pact and the Nazi-Soviet war; the anti-Semitic campaign that preceded his death; and the legacy he left behind.

Distilling a lifetime’s study, weaving detail, analysis, and research, Conquest has given us an extraordinarily powerful narrative of this incredible figure.

“Thoughtful and thorough and shot through with insight.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Definitive . . . a magnificent, even poetic, act of historical retribution.”—The New Leader

“Brilliant . . . this book probably is the most cogent and readable account of Stalin’s life yet published.”—The San Diego UnionStalin – Robert Conquest List of Illustrations
Prefatory Note
Introduction
1. Gori
2. Seminary
3. Underground
4. Rising Revolutionary
5. Revolution
6. Civil War
7. The Long Death of Lenin
8. The Fight for Power
9. Towards Supremacy
10. Terror
11. With Hitler
12. War
13. Postwar: Cold War
14. Last Years
15. Stalin Today
Bibliographical Note
IndexRobert Conquest was one of Britain’s most respected historians and was an acclaimed novelist, poet, critic, and reviewer. He was the author of such works as the bestselling The Harvest of Sorrow and Stalin and the Kirov Murder.US