Stalin : a biography / Robert Service.
Record details
- ISBN: 0674022580 ($20.00)
- ISBN: 9780674022584 ($20.00)
- Physical Description: xviii, 715 p., [24] p. of prints : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
- Edition: 1st pbk. ed. / Harvard U. Press
- Publisher: Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006, c2004.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (p. [661]-680) and index. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953. Heads of state > Soviet Union > Biography. Soviet Union > History > 1925-1953. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kirtland Community College.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirtland Community College Library | DK 268 .S8 S4237 2006 | 30534448 | General Collection | Available | - |
Stalin : A Biography
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Summary
Stalin : A Biography
Overthrowing the conventional image of Stalin as an uneducated political administrator inexplicably transformed into a pathological killer, Robert Service reveals a more complex and fascinating story behind this notorious twentieth-century figure. Drawing on unexplored archives and personal testimonies gathered from across Russia and Georgia, this is the first full-scale biography of the Soviet dictator in twenty years. Service describes in unprecedented detail the first half of Stalin's life--his childhood in Georgia as the son of a violent, drunkard father and a devoted mother; his education and religious training; and his political activity as a young revolutionary. No mere messenger for Lenin, Stalin was a prominent activist long before the Russian Revolution. Equally compelling is the depiction of Stalin as Soviet leader. Service recasts the image of Stalin as unimpeded despot; his control was not limitless. And his conviction that enemies surrounded him was not entirely unfounded. Stalin was not just a vengeful dictator but also a man fascinated by ideas and a voracious reader of Marxist doctrine and Russian and Georgian literature as well as an internationalist committed to seeing Russia assume a powerful role on the world stage. In examining the multidimensional legacy of Stalin, Service helps explain why later would-be reformers--such as Khrushchev and Gorbachev--found the Stalinist legacy surprisingly hard to dislodge. Rather than diminishing the horrors of Stalinism, this is an account all the more disturbing for presenting a believable human portrait. Service's lifetime engagement with Soviet Russia has resulted in the most comprehensive and compelling portrayal of Stalin to date.