Stalin : triumph and tragedy

Joseph Stalin plunged Russia into a barbarous nightmare the likes of which the world has never seen, leaving behind a ravaged nation and a legacy of grief, but no answers. Until now. As propaganda chief of the Soviet Red Army and later chairman of the Russian Archives Declassifying Commision, General Dmitri Volkogonov enjoyed unparalleled access to the vast secret archives of the former Soviet Union. "The first massive indictment in Russia of the dictator's entire record. . . . Volkogonov deserves a place of honor in the ranks of Russian historians." — Wall Street Journal For ten years Volkogonov studied military records, party archives, trial documents, and other long-suppressed evidence from the era of the purges. He scoured Stalin's personal records and interviewed members of Stalin's Kremlin staff as well as high-ranking party officials, top army brass, and others who knew the ruthless leader. Offering the first true glimpse of Stalin in action, this is the definitive account of the man, the time, and the tragedy. THE GLOW OF ocroBER I A Portrait 2 February: the Prologue 3 The Supporting Players 4 Uprising 5 Saved by Chance 6 Civil War 2 THE LEADER'S WARNINGS 7 Comrades in Arms 8 The General Secretary 9 Letter to the Congress 10 Stalin or Trotsky 11 The Roots of the Tragedy 13 Leninism for the Masses 14 Intellectual Disarray 15 'Enemy Number One' Defeated 16 The Leader's Private Life 4 DICTATORSHIP OR DICTATOR? I 7 The Fate of the Peasantry 18 The Drama of Bukharin The author had an incredible access to secret KGB files in his role as historian for the Soviet Army. This book, the first of a trilogy written by Volkogonov on Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky, takes advantage of the author's discoveries to reveal much heretofore unknown knowledge about Stalin's reign of terror in the early days of the Soviet Union. Photos.