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Jonathan Blanks's Reviews > Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941
Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941
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Like the first book in the series, it is impressively well researched. So much so that the sections on The Terror seem almost to drag on interminably, but it really is important to the story to understand how Stalin's purging of the military elite and his inner circle were more than just statistics.
The sheer scope of the book may be daunting to someone who is not as familiar with many of the names and the political dynamics of the era. I was a TA in college for a Russian/Soviet foreign policy class so I am way into this stuff. This series is very much concerned with the political machinations of the Stalin regime and thus it is not for someone who is not interested in how totalitarian regimes come to be. But if you can handle the lists of names that come and go and enjoy learning about personality and political history, it's fantastic.
It is a fascinating study of how just one man could shape, gut, and re-constitute a government responsible for an empire that stretched from reconstituted Poland to the Pacific Ocean. Absolutely incredible.
The sheer scope of the book may be daunting to someone who is not as familiar with many of the names and the political dynamics of the era. I was a TA in college for a Russian/Soviet foreign policy class so I am way into this stuff. This series is very much concerned with the political machinations of the Stalin regime and thus it is not for someone who is not interested in how totalitarian regimes come to be. But if you can handle the lists of names that come and go and enjoy learning about personality and political history, it's fantastic.
It is a fascinating study of how just one man could shape, gut, and re-constitute a government responsible for an empire that stretched from reconstituted Poland to the Pacific Ocean. Absolutely incredible.
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Reading Progress
June 24, 2020
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Started Reading
October 12, 2020
– Shelved
October 12, 2020
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Finished Reading
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Sofie
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Oct 14, 2020 01:44AM
Checking this one out! What did you think of it? Was it more of a heavy read or detailed but not too heavy? I love books like this that read like fiction, like Eric Larsons work!
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This definitely reads like a history, but not in a dry way. It's dense but accessible, so long as you can keep up with a bunch of Eastern European names.I would, however, recommend reading the first book first because it explains his relationship with Lenin and the early relationships with his first inner circle. The book definitely stands on its own, but the psychological portrait of Stalin the man begins in earnest in the first book and makes what he does in book two all the more shocking.
Ok great thanks Jon! I will start with the first one
