From Publishers Weekly
Drawing on a wealth of new material from the Soviet Union, Conquest presents a chilling portrait of a mass murderer who gave personal instructions on how his victims should be tortured. Stalin (1879-1953), a rebellious young seminarian who wrote poetry, would later have poets executed. Conquest ( The Great Terror ) portrays the Soviet dictator as an insufferably rude husband, a Georgian who hated his roots and Russified himself, a crude boor who yearned to be a backslapping man of the people. Although omitting intricate political details and focusing instead on the person himself, this masterful biography provides fresh insight into a progressively paranoid leader who ruled by terror and falsification, deported millions to slave labor camps, engineered the famine of 1932 that killed some five million Ukrainians, and launched an anti-Semitic campaign of murders and arrests. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Joseph Stalin, a leader with many biographers, has become the subject of renewed study as a consequence of Soviet glasnost and the opening of formerly closed archives. Both of these books describe Stalin's development as a revolutionary, his rise to power upon Lenin's death, the Terror and consolidation of his control, his triumph in World War II, and his decline and death as the Cold War expanded. Conquest, a respected Western scholar, incorporates new details of Stalin's life and establishes a broad context for understanding his actions, highlighting how he was underestimated by both colleagues and foreign diplomats. Volkogonov, a Soviet researcher and the head of the Institute of Military History, sets forth a study of Stalin the man, centering upon his actions and thoughts. Reflecting new Soviet openness, he finds that Stalin rejected socialism and scorned freedom to the detriment of his nation. Greater access to records, such as those showing the depth of Stalin's control over military decision-making and the truth regarding the Katyn Forest massacre of Polish officers by the NKVD, will afford many opportunities for further study. These works are both carefully researched and well written (well edited and translated in the case of Volkgonov's book), offering new information and insights into Stalin's life and era. Volkogonov's work is noteworthy for the sense it conveys of the Soviet struggle to come to terms with the meaning of Stalin's rule. Conquest's work excels in its sophisticated portrayal of Stalin's life against the map of world politics and society. Both are of interest to general and specialist readers and are recommended for larger collections and those of Soviet studies. Conquest's book previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/91.--Ed.
- Rena Fowler, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., MarquetteCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
