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
... Group, occasions that have allowed me to share my thinking with fellow International History specialists. The Moscow conference circuit was opened up to me by Professor Gabriel Gorodetsky in 1995 and the benefit in terms of ideas and ...
... group that had the most intense and frequent contacts with Stalin during the war were the members of his High Command. Accounts by Stalin's generals provide an intimate portrait of the Soviet dictator's daily routine during wartime.36 ...
... groups of fronts and guided them with skill, thoroughly understanding complicated strategic questions ... He had a ... group of fronts. For that matter, this was something he didn't need to know... Stalin's merit lies in the fact that ...
... struggle – the inbuilt antagonism between mutually incompatible economic interest groups. This conflict between contending class forces was seen as a struggle waged between states as well as within states. Stalin's particular contribution.
... groups targeted by Stalin as part of his preparations for war. Living in the borderlands of the Soviet Union were a number of ethnic groups considered potentially disloyal in the event of war. Along the western border were Ukrainians ...
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 |