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 89
... Operation Uranus, November 1942 11 'Mars', 'Jupiter', 'Saturn' and 'Uranus' 12 The Battle of Kursk, July 1943 13 Soviet Military Operations, 1944 14 Operation Bagration 15 The Soviet Advance on Warsaw, Summer 1944 16 The Vistula–Oder ...
... Operation Barbarossa Soviet–Turkish statement on neutrality Soviet–Yugoslav Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece Soviet–Japanese neutrality pact Stalin appointed Chairman of the Council of ...
... Operation Typhoon to capture Moscow Fall of Odessa Stalin speeches in Moscow Moscow counter-offensive by Red Army Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor Hitler declares war on the US Eden trip to Moscow Declaration of the United Nations Hitler ...
... Operation Bagration to liberate Belorussia Minsk recaptured by the Red Army Attempt on Hitler's life Beginning of Warsaw Uprising Dumbarton Oaks conference Soviet–Finnish ceasefire USSR declares war on Bulgaria Soviet–Bulgarian ...
... operation Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes President Vienna falls to the Red Army Red Army's Berlin Operation begins San Francisco conference on the foundation of the UN Hitler commits suicide Berlin surrenders to the Red Army 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 |