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
Results 1-5 of 90
... Ardennes offensive USSR recognises the Polish Committee of National Liberation as the Provisional Government of Poland Vistula–Oder operation begins Warsaw captured by the Red Army 1944 27 January 4–11 February 13 February 5 April 11 April.
... Poland in September 1939 he did so secure in the knowledge that while he might face war with Britain and France in the west, his eastern flank was safeguarded by Soviet neutrality in the form of a non-aggression pact agreed with Stalin ...
... Poland, the occupation regime in Japan, the control of atomic energy – most worrying for Stalin were developments on the ideological front. During the war the Soviet Union, the Red Army and Stalin's leadership had received exemplary and ...
... Poland, Romania and other East European states. In April the Soviets proposed a full-blown triple alliance between Britain, France and the USSR – a military coalition that would guarantee European security against further German ...
... Poland and Romania to repulse a German attack and that they had to know now where they stood. For the Soviets a triple alliance with Britain and France meant, above all, a co-ordinated military plan to fight a common war against Germany ...
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 |