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
... Zhukov and Marshal Rokossovskii. AKG Images. Georgi Dimitrov with Stalin on his left and Voroshilov, Kaganovich and Molotov on his right. AKG Images. Floral tributes to Stalin piled up against the Kremlin wall at the time of his funeral ...
... Zhukov made Deputy Supreme Commander Germans reach the Volga Operation Torch begins in North Africa Operation Uranus (Stalingrad counter-offensive by the Red Army) German 6th Army surrounded in Stalingrad Launch of Operation Ring at ...
... Zhukov, Stalin's Deputy Supreme Commander during the war, fiercely contested the idea that the Soviet High Command was profligate with men and materiel, arguing that while it is easy to claim in retrospect that fewer forces could have ...
... Zhukov. Vasilevskii, chief of the Soviet General Staff for most of the Eastern Front war, was involved in the planning and direction of all the Red Army's major operations. He was in daily contact with Stalin, either in person or on the ...
... Zhukov fell from Stalin's favour, was demoted, and posted to a regional military command. After Stalin's death Zhukov returned from the wilderness and served as Minister of Defence but then fell out with Khrushchev and was forced to ...
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 |