Stalin : a biography

A Thrilling, Chilling Story Of Hidden Evil, The Third Twin Is A Heart-stopping, Spine-tingling Story From Master Of Suspense, Ken Follett. An Impossible Result Jeannie Ferrami, A Scientific Researcher Investigating The Behaviour Of Identical Twins Who Have Been Raised Separately, Uncovers A Perplexing Mystery; Identical Twins Who Were Born On Different Days, To Different Mothers, In Different Places. A Blossoming Love One, Steve, Is A Law Student And The Other, Dennis, A Convicted Murderer. As Jeannie Works With Steve On Her Project She Finds Herself Falling In Love With Him, But Their World Is Shattered When He Is Accused Of A Monstrous Crime. A Terrible Secret Jeannie Cannot Believe That Steve Committed The Crime, But Proving It Means She Will Be Forced To Question Everything She Believes. And As She Digs Deeper, Her Investigation Uncovers A Terrifying Conspiracy – And It Becomes Clear The Plotters Will Kill To Keep It Hidden. 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 Worship -- Dangerous Liaisons -- Vozhd And Intellectual -- Ailing Despot -- Death And Embalming -- After Stalin. Robert Service. First Published: United Kingdom : Macmillan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [661]-680) And Index. 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. Rather than diminishing the horrors of Stalinism, this is an account all the more disturbing for presenting a believable human portrait. Service's lifetime engagement with Soviet Russia has resulted in the most comprehensive and compelling portrayal of Stalin to date. A chilling story of hidden evil, The Third Twin is a heart-stopping, spine-tingling novel from master storyteller and author of Never , Ken Follett. An Impossible Result Jeannie Ferrami, a scientific researcher investigating the behaviour of identical twins who have been raised separately, uncovers a perplexing mystery: identical twins who were born on different days, to different mothers, in different places. A Blossoming Love One of the twins, Steve, is a law student. The other, Dennis, is a convicted murderer. Jeannie works with Steve on her research project and finds herself falling in love with him – but their world is shattered when he is accused of a monstrous crime. A Terrible Secret Jeannie cannot believe that Steve is guilty, but to prove it she will be forced to question everything she believes. And, as she digs deeper, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy – one which the plotters will kill to keep hidden. The first full-scale biography of Stalin in twenty years reveals the complex and fascinating story of the Soviet dictator, from his dysfunctional childhood in Soviet Georgia, through his education and early political activism, to his tyrannical control over the Soviet Union and the legacy of his reign.