Stalin: a biography

"Overthrowing the conventional image of Stalin as an uneducated political administrator inexplicably transformed into a pathological killer, Robert Service reveals a more complex and fascinating story behind this notorious twentieth-century figure. Drawing on unexplored archives and personal testimonies gathered from across Russia and Georgia, this is the first full-scale biography of the Soviet dictator in twenty years." "Service describes in unprecedented detail the first half of Stalin's life - his childhood in Georgia as the son of a violent, drunkard father and a devoted mother; his education and religious training; and his political activity as a young revolutionary. No mere messenger for Lenin, Stalin was a prominent activist long before the Russian Revolution. Equally compelling is the depiction of Stalin as Soviet leader. Service recasts the image of Stalin as unimpeded despot; his control was not limitless. And his conviction that enemies surrounded him was not entirely unfounded." "Stalin was not just a vengeful dictator but also a man fascinated by ideas and a voracious reader of Marxist doctrine and Russian and Georgian literature as well as an internationalist committed to seeing Russia assume a powerful role on the world stage. In examining the multidimensional legacy of Stalin, Service helps explain why later would-be reformers - such as Khrushchev and Gorbachev - found the Stalinist legacy surprisingly hard to dislodge."--Jacket

pt. 1. The revolutionary. -- Stalin as we have known him -- The family Dzhughashvili -- The schooling of a priest -- Poet and rebel -- Marxist militant -- The party and the Caucasus -- On the run -- At the centre of the party -- Koba and Bolshevism -- Osip of Siberia -- Return to Petrograd -- pt. 2. Leader for the party. -- The year 1917 -- October -- People's Commissar -- To the front! -- The Polish corridor -- With Lenin -- Nation and revolution -- Testament -- The opportunities of struggle -- Joseph and Nadya -- Factionalist against factions -- pt. 3. Despot. -- Ending the NEP -- Terror-economics -- Ascent to supremacy -- The death of Nadya -- Modernity's sorcerer -- Fears in victory -- Ruling the nations -- Mind of terror -- The great terrorist -- The cult of impersonality -- Brutal reprieve -- pt. 4. Warlord. -- The world in sight -- Approaches to war -- The devils SUP -- Barbarossa -- Fighting on -- Sleeping on the divan -- To the death! -- Supreme commander -- The big three -- Last campaigns -- Victory! -- pt. 5. The imperator. -- Delivering the blow -- The outbreak of the Cold War -- Subjugating Eastern Europe -- Stalinist rulership -- Policies and purges -- Emperor worshi…