Episode #73 – What Can We Believe About Stalin? (Part I)

The are few 20th century figures as perplexing as Josef Stalin. Historians widely agree that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of some 20 million human beings. Despite that his legacy has remained the topic of serious debate. This is because the history of his regime was actively distorted by both Stalin himself and his many enemies. Stalin tried to make himself myth. His enemies tried to show that he was monster. Who was he really? Tune in and find out how pools of urine, webbed toes, and unpaid library fines all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Brackman, Roman. The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: a Hidden Life. Frank Cass, 2001.

CONQUEST, ROBERT. GREAT TERROR: a Reassessment. THE BODLEY HEAD LTD, 2018.

Conquest, Robert. The Great Terror, Stalin’s Purge of the Thirties: Robert Conquest. Macmillan and C°, 1968.

Khlevniuk, Oleg V., and Nora Seligman. Favorov. Stalin – New Biography of a Dictator. Yale University Press, 2016.

Kotkin, Stephen. Stalin. Penguin Books, 2015.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Young Stalin. McArthur & Co., 2008.

Radzinsky, Edvard. Stalin: the First in-Depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia’secret Archives. Doubleday, 1996.

Rappaport, Helen. Joseph Stalin: a Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO, 2000.

Waterlow, Jonathan. It’s Only a Joke, Comrade!: Humour, Trust and Everyday Life under Stalin. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.