''Stalin'', a 1997

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

Edvard Radzinsky Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky (; born September 23, 1936) is a Russian historian, playwright, television personality, and screenwriter. He authored more than forty history books that are popular in Russia. Biography Edvard Stanislavovich Rad ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, reflects the author's research in Russia's secret archives and consultation with living sources. Radzinsky was allowed to access some documents from the secret Soviet archives after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. Radzinsky is a popular Russian playwright. He also wrote a bestselling history, ''The Last Czar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II'' (1992), and forty other popular histories, including others about the Russian Imperial family.

Reception

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (June 14, 1934 – November 7, 2018) was an American journalist, editor of ''The New York Times Book Review'', critic, and novelist, based in New York City. He served as senior Daily Book Reviewer from 1969 to 1995. Bi ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' describes this work as a dramatic, "bitterly condemnatory life of Stalin," based on Radzinsky's interviews and correspondence with numerous survivors of that era, as well as the author's research in newly opened and declassified Russian archives. Lehmann-Haupt compares this to the bitterly angry tone of

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was a ...

's ''

The Gulag Archipelago ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian ...

''. He believes that some conclusions by Radinsky were not sufficiently supported by evidence, such as his assertion that Stalin's second wife did not commit suicide, but was probably shot by Stalin. He did say that elements of Stalin's relationship with Lenin and his use of terrorism, as discussed by Radzinsky, "accorded" with preceding academic works, such as "

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 19173 August 2015) was a British and American historian, poet, novelist, and propagandist. He was briefly a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain but later wrote several books condemning commun ...

's ''Stalin: Breaker of Nations'' (1991) and by Mr. Radzinsky's predecessor into Soviet archives, Gen.

Dmitri Volkogonov Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov (; 22 March 1928 – 6 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian historian and colonel general who was head of the Soviet military's psychological warfare department. After research in secret Soviet archives (both be ...

, in ''Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy'' (1991)." The "Publishers Weekly" characterizes the book as "a vivid, astonishingly intimate biography of Joseph Stalin" based on previously unavailable primary-source documents of the communist party, the state and KGB."Stalin, by Edvard Radzinsky", Publishers Weekly
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References

External links

*
Edvard Radzinsky
— Author's site. 1996 non-fiction books Russian biographies Biographies of Joseph Stalin Doubleday (publisher) books Georgian biographies {{USSR-bio-book-stub