AuthorKhlevniuk, Oleg V. (Oleg Vitalʹevich)
TitleStalin : new biography of a dictator / Oleg V. Khlevniuk ; translated by Nora S. Favorov
ImprintNew Haven : Yale University Press, 2015
Descript xvi, 392 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

SUMMARY

Joseph Stalin exercised supreme power in the Soviet Union from 1929 until his death in 1953. During that quarter-century, by Oleg Khlevniuk's estimate, he caused the imprisonment and execution of no fewer than a million Soviet citizens per year. Millions more were victims of famine directly resulting from Stalin's policies. What drove him toward such ruthlessness? This essential biography, by the author most deeply familiar with the vast archives of the Soviet era, offers an unprecedented, fine-grained portrait of Stalin the man and dictator. Without mythologizing Stalin as either benevolent or an evil genius, Khlevniuk resolves numerous controversies about specific events in the dictator's life while assembling hundreds of previously unknown letters, memos, reports, and diaries into a comprehensive, compelling narrative of a life that left long-lasting scars on the peoples over which he ruled and altered the course of world history.--Adapted from book jacket


CONTENT

Preface: The seats of Stalin's power -- Before the Revolution -- The bulwarks of Stalin's power -- In Lenin's shadow -- A world of reading and contemplation -- The Revolution -- Trepidation in the inner circle -- Terror and impending war -- Patient number 1 -- Stalin at war -- Family -- The Generalissimo -- The dictatorship collapses -- The funeral : the vozhd, the system, and the people


SUBJECT

  1. Stalin
  2. Joseph
  3. 1878-1953
  4. Heads of state -- Soviet Union -- Biography
  5. Dictators -- Soviet Union -- Biography
  6. Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1936-1953

LOCATIONCALL#STATUS
Central Library (5th Floor)947.0842092 S782K 2015 CHECK SHELVES