This breakthrough book provides a detailed reconstruction of Stalin’s leadership from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 to his death in 1953. Making use of a wealth of new material from Russian archives, Geoffrey Roberts challenges a long list of standard perceptions of Stalin: his qualities as a leader; his relationships with his own generals and with other great world leaders; his foreign policy; and his role in instigating the Cold War. While frankly exploring the full extent of Stalin’s brutalities and their impact on the Soviet people, Roberts also uncovers evidence leading to the stunning conclusion that Stalin was both the greatest military leader of the twentieth century and a remarkable politician who sought to avoid the Cold War and establish a long-term detente with the capitalist world. By means of an integrated military, political, and diplomatic narrative, the author draws a sustained and compelling personal portrait of the Soviet leader. The resulting picture is fascinating and contradictory, and it will inevitably change the way we understand Stalin and his place in history. Roberts depicts a despot who helped save the world for democracy, a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly, a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist, and a warlord who undertook the role of architect of post-war peace.

Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953

History

Roberts, Geoffrey

Military

Yale University Press

A provocative reassessment of Stalin’s military and political leadership during the most important years of his career This breakthrough book provides a detailed reconstruction of Stalin’s leadership from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 to his death in 1953. Making use of a wealth of new material from Russian archives, Geoffrey Roberts challenges a long list of standard perceptions of Stalin: his qualities as a leader; his relationships with his own generals and with other great world leaders; his foreign policy; and his role in instigating the Cold War. While frankly exploring the full extent of Stalin’s brutalities and their impact on the Soviet people, Roberts also uncovers evidence leading to the stunning conclusion that Stalin was both the greatest military leader of the twentieth century and a remarkable politician who sought to avoid the Cold War and establish a long-term detente with the capitalist world. By means of an integrated military, political, and diplomatic narrative, the author draws a sustained and compelling personal portrait of the Soviet leader. The resulting picture is fascinating and contradictory, and it will inevitably change the way we understand Stalin and his place in history. Roberts depicts a despot who helped save the world for democracy, a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly, a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist, and a warlord who undertook the role of architect of post-war peace.

A compelling intellectual biography of Stalin told through his personal library\n“[A] fascinating new study.”—Michael O’Donnell, Wall Street Journal\nIn this engaging life of the twentieth century’s most self-consciously learned dictator, Geoffrey Roberts explores the books Stalin read, how he read them, and what they taught him. Stalin firmly believed in the transformative potential of words, and his voracious appetite for reading guided him throughout his years. A biography as well as an intellectual portrait, this book explores all aspects of Stalin’s tumultuous life and politics.\nStalin, an avid reader from an early age, amassed a surprisingly diverse personal collection of thousands of books, many of which he marked and annotated, revealing his intimate thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Based on his wide-ranging research in Russian archives, Roberts tells the story of the creation, fragmentation, and resurrection of Stalin’s personal library. As a true believer in communist ideology, Stalin was a fanatical idealist who hated his enemies—the bourgeoisie, kulaks, capitalists, imperialists, reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries, traitors—but detested their ideas even more.

Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Historians have heatedly debated the Soviet role in the origins of the Second World War for more than 50 years. At the centre of these controversies stands the question of Soviet relations with Nazi Germany and the Stalin-Hitler pact of 1939. Drawing on a wealth of new material from the Soviet Archives, this detailed and original study analyses Moscow's response to the rise of Hitler, explains the origins of the Nazi-Soviet pact, and charts the road to Operation Barbarossa and the disaster of the surprise German attack on the USSR in June 1941.

The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Second World War: Russo-German Relations and the Road to War, 1933-1941

Bedford/St.Martins

Political science is a field of study which is especially eclectic in its use of terms, techniques and theories, which are drawn from the other social sciences, the natural sciences and from history, philosophy and law. The complexities and subtleties of its vocabulary can pose problems even for those familiar with the subject. This dictionary is a comprehensive guide to the current terminology of political analysis. It includes concise definitions of basic terms as well as longer entries where indicated by the complexity of the term. It indicates subtle, but often significant differences in words which are sometimes loosely used or even misused. The dictionary has an extensive cross-referencing system which enables the reader easily to identify associated terms.

A New Dictionary of Political Analysis

Reference

Alistair, Edward

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

Hodder Education Publishers

This book interprets newly available evidence from the Soviet archives and provides a framework for student discussion of relevant issues, together with a guide to further reading and research.

The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945-1991 (The Making of the Contemporary World)

Americas

Routledge

The Soviet Union in World Politics provides an introductory history of Soviet foreign policy and international relations from 1945 to the end of the Cold War and the break up of the USSR. The book summarizes historical and political controversies about Soviet foreign policy and brings the latest research to bear on these debates.The Soviet Union in World Politics interprets the latest evidence available from the Soviet archives and includes* summaries of the main events in Soviet Policy from 1917-1945* a framework for student discussion of relevant issues* guides to further reading and research* exploration of the role of ideology in the Cold War* discussion of Stalin's role in the formulation of policy.

The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945–1991 (The Making of the Contemporary World)

Stalin (Routledge Historical Biographies)

Russia

Victory at Stalingrad: The Battle That Changed History

Victory at Stalingrad tells the gripping strategic and military story of that battle. The hard-won Soviet victory prevented Hitler from waging the Second World War for another ten years and set the Germans on the road to defeat. The Soviet victory also prevented the Nazis from completing the Final Solution, the wholesale destruction of European Jewry, which began with Hitler’s "War of Annihilation" against the Soviets on the Eastern Front. Geoffrey Roberts places the conflict in the context of the clash between two mighty powers:their world views and their leaders. He presents a great human drama, highlighting the contribution made by political and military leaders on both sides. He shows that the real story of the battle was the Soviets’ failure to achieve their greatest ambition: to deliver an immediate, war-winning knockout blow to the Germans.
This provocative reassessment presents new evidence and challenges the myths and legends that surround both the battle and the key personalities who led and planned it.

Victory at Stalingrad

Europe

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Roberts, Geoffrey. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Roberts, Geoffrey

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Roberts, Geoffrey. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953

Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953

Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books

The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Second World War: Russo-German Relations and the Road to War, 1933-1941

A New Dictionary of Political Analysis

The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945-1991 (The Making of the Contemporary World)

The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945–1991 (The Making of the Contemporary World)

Stalin (Routledge Historical Biographies)

Stalin (Routledge Historical Biographies)

Victory at Stalingrad