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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... Leningrad surrounded Germans capture Kiev Anglo-American–Soviet supplies agreement Germans launch Operation Typhoon to capture Moscow Fall of Odessa Stalin speeches in Moscow Moscow counter-offensive by Red Army Japanese attack at Pearl ...
... Leningrad blockade completely lifted Odessa recaptured by the Red Army Sebastopol recaptured by the Red Army D-Day landings in Normandy Beginning of Operation Bagration to liberate Belorussia Minsk recaptured by the Red Army Attempt on ...
... Leningrad. This theme was taken up by many western historians, who broadened it to include a more wide-ranging critique of the controversial Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939–1941. The Nazi–Soviet Pact When Hitler invaded Poland ...
... Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. During the Great Patriotic War Stalin assumed the role of general but he showed no inclination (unlike Churchill) to witness the military struggle at first hand or (unlike Hitler) to direct operations ...
... Leningrad Communist Party, in December 1934, thousands of party members were arrested, suspected of involvement in a plot to kill Soviet leaders.58 In the mid-1930s there was a sries of public political show trials of former leading ...
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 |