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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... History, University College Cork. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has been awarded numerous awards over his academic career, including a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard and a Government of Ireland Senior Research ...
... History and Narrative Reader (editor) Victory at Stalingrad: The Battle That Changed History Stalin – His Times and Ours (editor) STALIN'S WARS FROM WORLD WAR TO COLD WAR, 1939–1953 GEOFFREY.
... history. 4. Soviet Union—History, Military. 5. World politics— 1945– I. Title. DK268.S8R574 2006 947.084'2092—dc22 [B] 2006023395 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978–0–300–13622–7(pbk) 10 9 8 ...
... Foreign Policy 12 Cold War Confrontations: Stalin Embattled 13 Conclusion: Stalin in the Court of History Notes Select Bibliography Index Illustrations Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, signing the Nazi–Soviet pact.
... history of the Stalin regime in the 1940s. The result is the present book – a detailed and sustained study of Stalin's military and political leadership in the final and most important phase of his life and career. Baldly stated, my ...
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 |