Joseph Stalin

Children's Literature - Greg M. Romaneck

Perhaps no leader in recorded history has been responsible for more deaths than Joseph Stalin. During his years as supreme ruler of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of human beings perished as a direct result of the actions undertaken by this autocratic leader. In this illustrated biography readers are given a guided tour of the life of a man who calmly and coldly orchestrated both his rise to penultimate power in the world's largest nation and the vast sorrowful changes encompassed therein. This book is part of a series of biographies dealing with "A Wicked History-20th Century" and its core subject is an appropriate selection for inclusion in the parent set. Throughout the book Stalin's actions and traits are carefully presented. In this way readers are given a glimpse of the early events in his life that set the stage for his aggressive climb to ultimate power. In the end, as Sean McCollum indicates in this insightful work, Stalin's terrible inner being led to the creation of a society that left no one secure and millions dead. The study of such tyranny not only helps younger readers to understand the facts of Stalin's life but also the price of freedom in a world where it is easily lost. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck