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Stalin, Vol. I

Stalin, Vol. I

Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928

Summary

In January 1928 Stalin, the ruler of the largest country in the world, boarded a train bound for Siberia where he would embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He was about to begin uprooting and collectivization of agriculture and industry across the entire Soviet Union. Millions would die, and many more would suffer. Where did such great, monstrous power come from? The first of three volumes, the product of a decade of intrepid research, this landmark book offers the most convincing explanation yet of Stalin's power.

Reviews

  • In its size, sweep, sensitivity, and surprises, Stephen Kotkin's first volume on Stalin is a monumental achievement: the early life of a man we thought we knew, set against the world - no less - that he inhabited. It's biography on an epic scale. Only Tolstoy might have matched it
    John Lewis Gaddis (author of THE COLD WAR)

About the author

Stephen Kotkin

Stephen Kotkin has a fair claim to be considered as the greatest living expert on Stalin. He is the author of the highly-praised Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 and Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization and Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000. He is Professor of History at Princeton University.
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