Description |
xvi, 392 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm |
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text txt rdacontent |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents |
The seats of Stalinist power -- The bulwarks of Stalin's power -- A world of reading and contemplation -- Trepidation in the inner circle -- Patient number 1 -- Family -- The dictatorship collapses -- The funeral. |
Summary |
Joseph Stalin exercised supreme power in the Soviet Union from 1929 until his death in 1953. During that quarter-century, by Oleg Khlevniuk's estimate, he caused the imprisonment and execution of no fewer than a million Soviet citizens per year. Millions more were victims of famine directly resulting from Stalin's policies. What drove him toward such ruthlessness? This essential biography, by the author most deeply familiar with the vast archives of the Soviet era, offers an unprecedented, fine-grained portrait of Stalin the man and dictator. Without mythologizing Stalin as either benevolent or an evil genius, Khlevniuk resolves numerous controversies about specific events in the dictator's life while assembling hundreds of previously unknown letters, memos, reports, and diaries into a comprehensive, compelling narrative of a life that left long-lasting scars on the peoples over which he ruled and altered the course of world history.--Adapted from book jacket. |
Language |
Translated from the Russian. |
Subject |
Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953.
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Heads of state -- Soviet Union -- Biography.
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Dictators -- Soviet Union -- Biography.
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Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1936-1953.
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Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953.
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Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953 (OCoLC)fst00053304
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Dictators. (OCoLC)fst00892873
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Heads of state. (OCoLC)fst00952677
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Politics and government (OCoLC)fst01919741
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Soviet Union. (OCoLC)fst01210281
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Chronological Term |
1936-1953
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Genre/Form |
Biography. (OCoLC)fst01423686
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Added Author |
Favorov, Nora Seligman, translator.
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ISBN |
9780300163889 (cloth : alk. paper) |
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0300163886 (cloth : alk. paper) |
Standard No. |
9780300163889 |
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