Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953This breakthrough book provides a detailed reconstruction of Stalin's leadership from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 to his death in 1953. Making use of a wealth of new material from Russian archives, Geoffrey Roberts challenges a long list of standard perceptions of Stalin: his qualities as a leader; his relationships with his own generals and with other great world leaders; his foreign policy; and his role in instigating the Cold War. While frankly exploring the full extent of Stalin's brutalities and their impact on the Soviet people, Roberts also uncovers evidence leading to the stunning conclusion that Stalin was both the greatest military leader of the twentieth century and a remarkable politician who sought to avoid the Cold War and establish a long-term detente with the capitalist world. By means of an integrated military, political, and diplomatic narrative, the author draws a sustained and compelling personal portrait of the Soviet leader. The resulting picture is fascinating and contradictory, and it will inevitably change the way we understand Stalin and his place in history. Roberts depicts a despot who helped save the world for democracy, a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly, a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist, and a warlord who undertook the role of architect of post-war peace. |
From inside the book
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... Georgi Dimitrov with Stalin on his left and Voroshilov, Kaganovich and Molotov on his right. AKG Images. Floral tributes to Stalin piled up against the Kremlin wall at the time of his funeral. AKG Images. Stalin's funeral in March 1953 ...
... Georgi Dimitrov, the leader of the Communist International, on 7 September 1939: A war is on between two groups of capitalist countries ... for the redivision of the world, for the domination of the world! We see nothing wrong in their ...
... Georgi Dimitrov, who recorded in his diary: At 7.00 a.m. I was urgently summoned to the Kremlin ... Striking calmness, resoluteness, confidence of Stalin and all the others ... For now the Comintern is not to take any overt action. The ...
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Contents
Stalin and his Generals | |
Stalin Churchill and Roosevelt | |
Stalins Year of Victories | |
Stalins Aims in Germany and Eastern Europe | |
Stalin Truman and the End of the Second World | |
Stalin and the Origins of the Cold | |
The Domestic Context of Stalins Postwar Foreign Policy | |
Stalin Embattled | |
Stalin in the Court of History | |
Select Bibliography | 1957 |
Index | 1975 |