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Title: Let History Judge by Roy Medvedev, George Shriver ISBN: 0-231-06351-2 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 May, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: As definitive as a person could possibly desire.
Comment: The late 1990's saw the publication of numerous scatterbrained, and ill-intentioned, attempts to descredit Vladimir Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, and Karl Marx, by associating their actions, and ideas, with those of Joseph Stalin. One must ask, "were these attempts in any way successful?" Luckily, the answer is an emphatic, no. The individuals who bought into the "Marx and Lenin created Stalinism" theory, alluded to in works such as 'The Black Book of Communism', by Mister Courtois (or Miss), 'The Passing of an Illusion', by Mister Furet, and 'The Soviet Tragedy', by Mister Malia, already harbored such fantastic illusions. Most of the population has no interest in Sovietology, so attempts at descrediting Lenin, Marx, Bukharin, and Trotsky, were, and are, virtually fruitless (I took a Public Speaking course at a local community college, and most of the students hadn't even heard of Lenin, Marx, or Trotsky!.)
To find true objectivity, on the subject of Sovietology, one must reach back into the distant past, and read Roy Medvedev's incredible, 'Let History Judge'. One could refer to Medvedev's writings, as "Solzhenitsyn, without the racism and bitterness"(a spew of biographies show that Solzhenitsyn is without question anti-semitic; however, this fact doesn't mean he's no longer one of the elite writers of the twentieth century). 'Let History Judge', is not so much a history of Stalin, but a history of Russia from 1917-1953. Described, with minute detail, is Lenin's seizure of power, Lenin's benevolent feelings toward Stalin (which ended effectively after the Eleventh All-Congress of the Bolsheviks), Trotsky's role as leader of the Red Army, Trotsky's complete ineptness in regard to the left-opposition, and Stalin's remarkable, almost super-human, political abilites. In addition, one will never discover a finer description of collectivization anywhere (although I must admit Conquest's 'Harvest of Sorrow', is pretty excellent). Russia's grain production in 1930-1933, were almost certainly below pre-WWI levels, apparently, but Stalin wanted Russia to appear forceful, so he sold grain internationally, as if it were "business as usual", which resulted in the death of millions of non-guilty peasants (however, one can not deny George Carlin's classic quote, "there are no innocent people, once you're born, you're guilty as charged").The description of the horrible Gulag system is not quite as great as Solzhenitsyn's, but it's pretty darn close. Unlike Solzhenitsyn, Medvedev doesn't slander the dead, or embark on anti-semitic diatribes (thankfully, for the population at large, Medvedev critiques much of what Solzhenitsyn wrote in the 'Gulag Archipelago' with absolute clarity).
The price is pretty high, but at 800+ pages, the person isn't really buying just one book, they are buying a multitude of books, which cover a variety of subjects. In addition to, 'Let History Judge', I would also strongly recommend you read Edvard Radzinsky's 'Stalin', Volkogonov's 'Autopsy of an Empire' (being a Yeltsin staffer, Volkogonov is biased, but there is some interesting anecdotes!), and Robert Tucker's magnificent two-volume biograpy of Stalin. Unlike other works on the subject of the Russian Revolution, these works actually take a "scholarly" approach!
Rating: 4
Summary: Passion overwhelms the writing
Comment: This book was the first in the Soviet Union to treat Stalin in an objective way. Prior to its release Stalin had been the great hero of the patriotic war the father of the country and so forth. Whilst the secret speech by Krushev had distanced the country from his system scholarship had not taken the step of subjecting his rule to objective analysis.
The author was a person who was an opponent of Stalin and prior to the fall of the regime was active in its criticism. The book goes through the issues associated with Stalin such as the decision to collectivize agriculture, the forced industrialization, the terror and the handling of the war. The author forms the view that Stalin was an unmitigated disaster. That is the country would have progressed economically better without him, and his handling of the war was catastrophic.
It is a good book to read with other western accounts such as Bullocks.
Rating: 5
Summary: Comprehensive and interesting
Comment: This book is a very thorough and well-written biography of Josef Stalin. It was one of the few books I read in college that I didn't mind reading. The information on Stalin's political and personal life gives the reader an opportunity to make informed judgements about Stalin's actions.
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Title: Stalin: Breaker of Nations by Robert Conquest ISBN: 0140169539 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Great Terror: A Reassessment by Robert Conquest ISBN: 0195071328 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: October, 1991 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: The Bolsheviks: The Intellectual and Political History of the Triumph of Communism in Russia by Adam Bruno Ulam ISBN: 0674078306 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Stalin : The Man and His Era by Adam B. Ulam ISBN: 080707005X Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1987 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Unknown Stalin by Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, Zhores Medvedev, Ellen Dahrendorf, Roy Medvedev, The Overlook Press ISBN: 1585675024 Publisher: Overlook Press Pub. Date: 05 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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