Stalin, Josef

Stalin's Letters to Molotov: 1925-1936 (Annals of Communism Series)

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Interesting revelations

Stalin's Letters to Molotov: 1925-1936 (Annals of Communism Series)
Josef Stalin
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Stalinism as a Way of Life: A Narrative in Documents (Annals of Communism Series)

ASIN: 0300062117

Book Description

These letters from Stalin to his trusted friend and political colleague Molotov constitute a unique historical record of Stalin`s thinking - both personal and political - during a dramatic period of transformation in the Soviet Union. They throw valuable light on the way he controlled the government, plotted the overthrow of his enemies, and imagined the future. Formerly housed in Soviet archives, this top secret correspondence is now available to the public for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting revelations.......2005-01-04

This very interesting book exists thanks to inadequate means of communication and also to Molotov himself.He gave the original letters to the authorities long after Stalin's death.The letters are of great importance as they go beyond the formal language used in correspondences.The problems facing the new Soviet republic are mentioned in letters in everyday language.The book has to be read with other books related with the period as there are several broken links between letters.Could be read as a preliminary for studying the Soviet Union in 1930s.

Stalin's joke.(more than might? DEFINING POWER)(Josef Stalin French Foreign Minister)(Column) : An article from: Harvard International Review

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Stalin's joke.(more than might? DEFINING POWER)(Josef Stalin French Foreign Minister)(Column) : An article from: Harvard International Review

Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Harvard International Review, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 691 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details
Title: Stalin's joke.(more than might? DEFINING POWER)(Josef Stalin French Foreign Minister)(Column)
Publication: Harvard International Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Page: 40(2) Article Type: Column Distributed by Thomson Gale

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The passion of Josef D.,: A new play
Paddy Chayefsky
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Josef Stalin (Leading Lives)
David Downing
Manufacturer: Heinemann Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0431138621

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Literate and dramatic bio
Great Book
Very biased and Anti Communist Propaganda book
Engaging
Solid Research Based on Russian Archives

Stalin
Edvard Radzinsky
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
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The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II
The Rasputin File
Stalin and His Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him
Stalin: A Biography
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ASIN: B0002RS4FE

Amazon.com

Granted privileged access to Russia's secret archives, Edvard Radzinsky has broken down the iron curtain of myth, secrecy and lies that has surrounded Stalin's life and career, painting a picture of the Soviet strongman as more calculating, ruthless and blood-crazed than has ever been described or imagined.

Customer Reviews:

Literate and dramatic bio.......2007-06-06

This is a literate and dramatic telling of Stalin's life and times from birth to death. The knowns and unknowns of Stalin are covered, as well as his colleagues (or adverseries in Stalin's case). The author's style is literary - a playwright by vocation - as if writing a novel. So, yes, there are the usual cliffhanger chapter endings and is suspensful to a degree - - a definite page turner overall. Also, the author is a native who lived part of his childhood during the Stalin era and his father felt the full brunt of Stalinism. So I like the touch of the personal emotion here. Is more readable and personable than the Conquest and Service bios, and covers more time than Montefiore. I heartily recommend.

Great Book.......2007-05-19

Of all the Stalin books, this is the best one by far. I strongly recommend it.

Very biased and Anti Communist Propaganda book.......2006-10-17

I m not a big fan of communism, nor of Stalin. But I cross checked the facts mentioned in this book with facts in some other books I have read on similar subject and found that author Edvard Radzinsky is strongly biased against Stalin. In the entire book he seems to give no credit for anything to Stalin nor to his leadership qualities during the course of Second World War. Dont waste your money on a propaganda book. Better to go for an unbiased account from a neutral observer, thats what Biographies are supposed to be.

Engaging.......2006-03-31

This is one of the most interesting biographies that I have ever read. It should be, as the author is also a successful Russian playwright, and he is not inexperienced at writing biographies. Combine this talent for researching and telling dramatic stories with the fact that the author had privileged access to formerly top-secret archives of the Soviet Union, and the ingredients are there for the compulsive read that it is.

Radzinsky makes it clear just how little is known about Stalin's early years. Nevertheless, he considers various testimonies and documents to offer several possibilities about the nature of each of his parents - an absent father and a poor, toiling mother. Considering similar kinds of evidence, and also painting a picture of how Georgia may have been like at the close of the 19th Century, the author also offers glimpses of a child who was always small, feisty, and yet natural as a leader.

His mother pressures him into going to a seminary school so that he may become an orthodox priest. However, this proves to be against a backdrop of various ideologies and revolutionaries, and so we can imagine the transition as Stalin goes from bright student, to atheist, and on to zealous terrorist who has no qualms about taking innocent lives for his ideals.

Stalin's rise to prominence is just as fascinating, in its own way, as Hitler's; but we don't only meet Stalin. We see a lot of Soviet history in the making, and we meet an array of colourful contemporaries along the way. The book is gripping as we read about revolutions, wars, civil wars, the rise and death of Lenin, and the rise of Stalin as he consolidates absolute power into his own hands. By now, we have already glimpsed just how un-human his heart can be, but that is only just the beginning in what is to become an all out attempt to eliminate all political rivals and all classes who may not conform to a system that promises a utopia built upon a foundation of human bones.

There is brief respite during WWII, where some power had to be given back to the generals. With this sense of relative freedom, and the victory over Nazi Germany, it seems as if for a while things will get better. However, as soon as the war is over, the time for independent thinkers is over, and it's back to purges, and then the purges of those who purged, once more.

Unfortunately, I could never really get a feel for how accurate some of the story was, as this is the first major biography on Stalin that I have read, and I have also read relatively little on Soviet history in general. Some reviewers praise this book, saying how they use it to teach their high-school students. Others attack it for being unfounded lies and propaganda. Having been a student of history for some while, I never got the sense that it was too much of the latter; but then I wouldn't be aware of some of the more technical points. Still, if like any other book it can't be assumed to be absolute fact, I continue to feel there has to be much to it that is fair.

Overall, I thought Radzinsky was clear about the fallibility of his explanations, and I always felt as if I were being allowed to draw my own conclusions. The only time that I really questioned the validity of some of his arguments was when it came to Radzinsky's interpretation of Stalin's death, and the seeming conclusion that one way or another Stalin was murdered. This was when at best it looked as if people had been slow to help him because he was not in his normal place to issue commands from the top; and at worst it looked like he may have suffered from a well-deserved dose of neglect. Neither of these possibilities would personally lead me to conclude 'murder'. Still, as I have said, I was able to reach this conclusion for myself, based on the fact that Radzinsky presented alternative evidence and that he was clear when his own conclusions were not absolute.

To sum up, this is a fascinating read; a real page-turner. The story seemed fairly balanced and accurate to me (but then I couldn't be certain). Nevertheless, it was very colourful and highly entertaining. I think it's a very recommendable book.

Solid Research Based on Russian Archives.......2006-02-02

The research done in this book is solid. I read both Russian and English stories, articles, and even books on the recently (if you can call mid nineties that) opened archived by the FSB (then KGB).

Radzinsky does little to interfere with his opinion. He is solely the messenger here, the message is what has been rumored about, spoken of, conspired around, and basically shared in millions of dining rooms, "skomeyak" while old men played dominoes.

Most of what is projected to the reader has been known for some time, especially in Russia proper. Some of the most incredible finds are not really anything knew to most Russian; mainly those that read "Suvorov" back when he first made allegations that based on the numbers, his own eyes when documents passed him, that Stalin was, indeed, planning to attack Hitler first. The difference with Radzinsky and Suvorov, is the incentive.

These finds, of course, would be, and were met with outrage. Partisans would never want to submit they sacrificed so much just for some madman's play. The maginitude of personal destruction, farms, families, culture, religion, all for what? The more documents come to light, the more truth and evidence that this was, in fact, a very real possibility.

Radzinsky does an excellent job of sifting through a lot, picking up where there was little trace, and attempting to explain, as subtle as he can, the sheer magnificance of the issue.

Uber Den Grossen Vaterlandischen Krieg Der Sowjetunion

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Uber Den Grossen Vaterlandischen Krieg Der Sowjetunion
Josef Stalin
Manufacturer: Verlag Fur Fremdsprachige
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IY8CQM

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The passion of Josef D;
Paddy Chayefsky
Manufacturer: S. French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007E8MTK

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Egyedul Sztalin ellen
Matray Lajos
Manufacturer: Katolikus Magyarok Vasaarnapja
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Hungary | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000G1L8U4

Product Description

ENTIRELY IN HUNGARIAN. Rough translation: "Alone against Stalin". This is a tribute to Cardinal Josef Mindszenty published by the Katolikus Magyarok Vasaarnapja, Cleveland Ohio in 1949.

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JOSEF STALIN MAN OF STEEL
DAVID M COLE
Manufacturer: RICH & COWAN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S2APAK

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Josef Stalin a Bibliography

Manufacturer: Information Today USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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