Overview
Born in 1879 in Georgia, Stalin joined the Bolsheviks under Lenin in 1903 and became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922. These edited papers reassess the deeds, policies and legacy of a man who was responsible for innumerable deaths and untold human misery.
Synopsis
Shukman (emeritus, Oxford U.) divides historiography about the Stalinist system between those who see it as a totalitarian and "revisionists" who see signs of autonomous and unsupervised behavior not dictated by Stalin. He presents seven essays that explore this debate, a debate that Shukman suggests in ultimately irresolvable. Issues include the "de-mythologization" of Stalin in the years following his death, the use of patronage and public obligation to Stalin," and Stalin's relationship to his foreign intelligence services. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR