{"product_id":"stalin-paradoxes-of-power-1878-1928-paperback","title":"Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"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.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is a very serious biography that . . . is likely to well stand the test of time.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Superb . . . Only Mr. Kotkin's book approaches the highest standard of scholarly rigor and general-interest readability.\" --\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding of Stalin and his world \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe product of a decade of intrepid research, \u003ci\u003eStalin\u003c\/i\u003e 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 yet who made egregious strategic blunders. Through it all, we see Stalin's unflinching persistence, his sheer force of will--perhaps the ultimate key to understanding his indelible mark on history. Drawing on Kotkin's exhaustive study of Soviet archival materials as well as vast scholarly literature, \u003ci\u003eStalin\u003c\/i\u003e recasts the way we think about the Soviet Union, revolution, dictatorship, the twentieth century, and indeed the art of history itself.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51113226666207,"sku":"9780143127864","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/v2WzoU41Ou9780143127864.webp?v=1786279915","url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/products\/stalin-paradoxes-of-power-1878-1928-paperback","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}