Stalin. A Biography

Drawing on a wealth of unexplored material - available for the first timesince the collapse of the former Soviet Union - Robert Service's biographyof Stalin is the most authoritative yet published. It concentrates notsimply on Stalin as dedicated bureaucrat or serial political killer, but ona fuller assessment of his formative interactions in Georgia, his youthfulrevolutionary activism, his relationship with Lenin, with his family, andwith his party members. 'This is effectively the first full biographysince perestroika to encompass the economic, political, diplomatic,military, administrative and, above all, ideological dimensions, as well asthe personal aspects of Stalin's colossal life . . . Gritty and unshowy,but enlightened by Service's compelling characterisation, magisterialanalysis and dry wit, this outstanding biography of lightly worn authority,wide research and superb intuition will be read for decades' Simon SebagMontefiore, author of STALIN: The Court of the Red Tsar Sunday Times