''Let History Judge'' (, ''Before the Court of History'') is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

history book by

Roy Medvedev Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev (; born 14 November 1925) is a Russian politician and writer. He is the author of the dissident history of Stalinism, ''Let History Judge'' (), first published in English in 1972. Biography Medvedev was born to ...

that critiques

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

from a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

perspective. Its publication in 1969 resulted in Medvedev's expulsion from the Communist Party and in subsequent harassment. Medvedev said of his methodology that "I did not make use of or have access to any closed archives, “special collections,” or any other limited-access depositories and I am not familiar with any" and "there could not be a published source for much of the information in this book; it was passed on by the victims of repression or their friends or relatives". The book was republished in expanded form in 1989.

References

1969 non-fiction books History books about the Soviet Union Works about Stalinism {{USSR-hist-book-stub