Joseph stalin ww2 biography book

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Joseph Stalin Books

Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953 and as one of the great political monsters of the 20th century—responsible for millions of unnecessary deaths—he's also a subject of fascination with a lot of books written about him.

In Simon Sebag-Montefiore’s Young Stalin you can find the man behind the monster and understand something of what formed him and what drove him (he even trained briefly as a priest). In Stalin’s Library and Stalin’s Scribe you can his relationship to culture and Russia’s literary world.

He tells one particular story when he was a young diplomat. It’s a political biography, but not only. He was going on an almost yearly basis to the area from which Sholokhov comes, the Rostov-on-Don area in southern Russia…It’s the work of a Western scholar who is really very immersed in his subject and in the psychology of the place that he writes about.

His account of the Soviet Union in the 30s was quite brilliant. Through meticulous research and compelling narrative, gain unprecedented insight into the mind of a dictator whose actions reverberated across continents and generations.

But this biography is more than just a retelling of historical events—it is a stark reminder of the enduring power of human agency.

Stalin was an avid reader and had a library of more than 20,000 books; many have his jottings in the margins.

“You can see in the young Stalin considerable signals that he is a very strange man of certain twitches, but a man of great charisma. He manages to survive both the Kazakh famine and the Great Patriot War, fighting in the army at Stalingrad.

By 9 he is acting as the man in the family, going long distances on horseback on his own to get food for his father in prison.

In "Joseph Stalin Biography'' delve into the enigmatic life of one of history's most polarizing figures.

joseph stalin ww2 biography book

He commands authority because of the system he’s at the center of.”

Orlando Figes, interview on the best Russian novels, 31 August, 2022

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“The Gulag is a very microcosmic, intensive form of Stalinism and other writers—like Shalamov for example—have described the Gulag in a way that is unforgettable.

The classic Eastern Approaches, by British diplomat Fitzroy Maclean, gives a firsthand description of life in Moscow during Stalin's show trials. He doesn’t command respect or authority from his persona. Born in 1922, Mukhamet Shayakhmetov's life revolves around his 'aul', the traditional Kazakh family grouping that is both abstract and the collection of yurts that moves around between winter and summer—with herds of camels, horses, cattle and sheep.

He is just 7 years old when Stalin's campaign to dispossess the kulaks reaches Altai in 1929, netting first his uncle and then his father. Let us reject the allure of authoritarianism and stand firm in defense of democratic values and human rights.

Let us honor the memory of Stalin's countless victims by ensuring that their voices are never silenced and their sacrifices are never forgotten.

He presents a puzzling paradox for both psychologists and sociologists; he was simultaneously revered, feared, loved, and hated during his lifetime.