Stalin: A Biography

Stalin: A Biography
AuthorRobert Service
LanguageEnglish
SubjectBiography
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
2004
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages715
Preceded byLenin: A Biography 
Followed byTrotsky: A Biography 

Stalin: A Biography is a biography of Joseph Stalin written by Robert Service. It was published in 2004.[1]

For his research, Service traveled to Abkhazia, where Stalin's dacha was located during the 1930s in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist Era after the end of the Leninist Era.[2]

The book describes Stalin's life, covering in detail his youth (1878-1923), rise to power (1924-1927/1930), and rule (1927-1953). According to the publisher, it uses a personal style that "humanizes Stalin without ever diminishing the extent of the atrocities he unleashed upon the Soviet population."[1]

Critical Reception

Stalin: A Biography has been criticized by historians including Gerald Meyer, claiming Service flattened Stalin’s character into that of a "power-mad psychopath.”[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Stalin: A Biography, by Robert Service, Harvard University Press (without date).
  2. ^ Jürgen Zarusky: Neuerscheinungen zu Stalin, sehepunkte.de (2006).
  3. ^ Meyer, Gerald (2017). "Joseph Stalin: Revisionist Biography". Science & Society. 81 (4): 550. ISSN 0036-8237.