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
... Roosevelt 7 Triumph and Tragedy: Stalin's Year of Victories 8 Liberation, Conquest, Revolution: Stalin's Aims in Germany and Eastern Europe 9 Last Battles: Stalin, Truman and the End of the Second World War 10 The Lost Peace: Stalin and ...
... Roosevelt and American Secretary of State, Cordell Hull. Getty Images. Insurgents of the Warsaw uprising surrender to the Germans. David King Collection. Notes from the Churchill–Stalin percentages agreement. David King Collection ...
... Roosevelt and Truman fought their diplomatic and political battles, and why the coalition collapsed after the Second World War. That aim remains a central strand of this book but in 2001–2002 I conducted a study of the battle of ...
... 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 surrenders ...
... Roosevelt.27 Before 1939 Stalin had received few foreigners, apart from fellow communists, but during the Second World War he became a familiar figure to a stream of visiting dignitaries, diplomats, politicians and military men. In ...
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 |