Stalin - Vol.1 - Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928

A magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding of Stalin and his world

The product of a decade of intrepid research, Stalin is a landmark achievement. Stephen Kotkin offers a biography that, at long last, is equal to this shrewd, sociopathic, charismatic dictator in all his dimensions. We see a man inclined to despotism who could be utterly charming; a pragmatic ideologue; a leader who obsessed over slights yet was a precocious geostrategic thinker-unique among Bolsheviks-and yet who made egregious strategic blunders. Through it all, we see Stalin's unflinching persistence, his sheer force of will-perhaps the ultimate key to understanding his indelible mark on history. Drawing on Kotkin's exhaustive study of Soviet archival materials as well as vast scholarly literature, Stalin recasts the way we think about the Soviet Union, revolution, dictatorship, the twentieth century, and indeed the art of history itself.

Rezension:

Jennifer Siegel, The New York Times Book Review
"A masterly account... Kotkin offers the sweeping context so often missing from all but the best biographies... Stalin is a complex work... but it presents a riveting tale, one written with pace and aplomb. Kotkin has given us a textured, gripping examination of the foundational years of the man most responsible for the construction of the Soviet state in all its brutal glory.... This first volume leaves the reader longing for the story still to come."

Richard Pipes, The New York Review of Books:
"This is a very serious biography that... is likely to well stand the test of time."

The Wall Street Journal:
"Superb . . . Mr. Kotkin's volume joins an impressive shelf of books on Stalin. Only Mr. Kotkin's book approaches the highest standard of scholarly rigor and general-interest readability."

New Statesman ( UK) :
"[Kotkin's] viewpoint is godlike: all the world falls within his purview. He makes comparisons across decades and continents.... An exhilarating ride."

Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic: "An exceptionally ambitious biography... Kotkin builds the case for quite a different interpretation of Stalin-and for quite a few other things, too. The book's signature achievement... is its vast scope: Kotkin has set out to write not only the definitive life of Stalin but also the definitive history of the collapse of the Russian empire and the creation of the new Soviet empire in its place."

Robert Gellately, Times Higher Education (London) :
"A brilliant portrait of a man of contradictions... In the vast literature on the Soviet Union, there is no study to rival Stephen Kotkin's massive first instalment of a planned three-volume biography of Joseph Stalin. When it is complete, it will surely become the standard work, and I heartily recommend it."

John Thornhill, Financial Times:
"It is a measure of Kotkin's powers of research and explanation that Stalin's decisions can almost always be understood within the framework of his ideology and the context of his times.... With a ferocious determination worthy of his subject, the author debunks many of the myths to have encrusted themselves around Stalin.... [A] magnificent biography. This reviewer, at least, is already impatient to read the next two volumes for their author's mastery of detail and the swagger of his judgments."

David Johnson, Johnson's Russia List :
"Required reading for serious Russia-watchers... As the product of years of work and careful thought, it is for me a reminder of what it takes to get close to the truth about important and controversial subjects. And the distance and time required to do so."

Geoffrey Roberts, Irish Examiner :
"Monumental... For Kotkin it was not Stalin's personality that drove his politics but his politics that shaped his personality. His research, narrative and arguments are as convincing as they are exhaustive. The book is long but very readable and highly accessible to the general reader.... Magisterial."

Donald Rayfield, Literary Review:
"Masterful... No other work on Stalin incorporates so well the preliminary information needed by the general reader, yet challenges so thoroughly the specialist's preconceptions. Kotkin has chosen illustrations, many of them little known, which reveal the crippled psyches of his dramatis personae."

Booklist (starred):
"An ambitious, massive, highly detailed work that offers fresh perspectives on the collapse of the czarist regime, the rise of the Bolsheviks, and the seemingly unlikely rise of Stalin to total power over much of the Eurasian land mass....This is an outstanding beginning to what promises to be a definitive work on the Stalin era."

Kirkus Reviews (starred):
"Authoritative and rigorous.... Staggeringly wide in scope, this work meticulously examines the structural forces that brought down one autocratic regime and put in place another."

Publishers Weekly:
"This is an epic, thoroughly researched account th