Stalin

'A masterly account . . . 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.' --The New York Times Book Review 'This is a very serious biography that . . . is likely to well stand the test of time.' --The New York Review of Books 'Superb . . . Only Mr. Kotkin's book approaches the highest standard of scholarly rigor and general-interest readability.' --Wall Street Journal 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