The central volume in the definitive biography of America's most important First Lady. "Engrossing" (Boston Globe).Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume Three; 1938-1962; will be published in November. Volume Two covers tumultuous era of the Great Depression; the New Deal; and the gathering storms of World War II; the years of the Roosevelts' greatest challenges and finest achievements. In her remarkably engaging narrative; Cook gives us the complete Eleanor Roosevelt— an adventurous; romantic woman; a devoted wife and mother; and a visionary policymaker and social activist who often took unpopular stands; counter to her husband's policies; especially on issues such as racial justice and women's rights. A biography of scholarship and daring; it is a book for all readers of American history.
#198184 in Books Robert Conquest 1992-11-01 1992-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.68 x .83 x 5.14l; .58 #File Name: 0140169539384 pagesStalin Breaker of Nations
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Socialist terror incarnate!By Dr. Miguel A. FariaThis book covers the life of Joseph Stalin; from his childhood in Gori to his death at his Nearer dacha (Kuntsevo) near Moscow on March 5; 1953. This book is 346 pages; including Bibliographical Notes an Index. The book is easy to read; well-organized; and ideal for the beginning student of Soviet history and Stalinism. It contains two sets of photographs that puts faces on the victims of Stalin; adding tangible personification to the almost surreal sense of totalitarian horror. Consider the photograph in the book of the seven Bolsheviks elected to the Politburo in 1924 after Lenin's death; six -- i.e.; Kamenev; Zinoviev; Bukharin; Trotsky (killed with pick axe); Rykov; and Tomsky (possible suicide) would be killed (four shot) by the remaining one; the strongest hyena of them all; Stalin.Through the sequential Congresses of the Party; we can follow Stalin's career as he ascend the levels of power with words and deeds; until he reaches the zenith of despotic; autocratic; and absolute power; and then the Congresses cease convening. Stalin rules with his inner circle; his minions who cajoled but also feared him. After the Party Congress of 1934; "the Congress of Victors;" his triumph was complete. He then used the assassination of Georgi Kirov in Leningrad as an excuse to launch the Great Terror of 1936-1938; despite the fact his power was now unchallenged. Millions perished; starved to death in government planned famines; shot; or worked to death in the gulag labor camps.Conquest writes; " In the early summer of 1918; the Bolsheviks moved into a 'socialist phase;' with nationalization; food requisitioning and all the other dictatorial measures later described as "War Communism" -- though at the time clearly presented as the fulfillment of the party's long term aims." Only popular opposition and peasant rebellions forced Lenin to temporarily change course with the New Economic Policy. Without exception all of the Bolsheviks -- i.e.; Lenin himself; Trotsky; Kamenev; Zinoviev; Bukharin; Sverdlov; Ordzhonikidze; etc.; had condone violence and terror against the enemies of the Revolution; real or imagined. What separated Stalin from the rest was that Stalin would use terror indiscriminately; as a matter of course; against the population; not sparing the families of his political opponents (not even his own); but most ominously against his former comrades without flinching.Joseph Conrad's observation is valid: "Hopes grotesquely betrayed; ideals caricatured -- that is the definition of revolutionary success;" for all of Soviet history: Stalinism was only worse. And yet; there were other examples of socialist and communist horrors -- e.g.; ; Red China under Mao Zedong and Cambodia under Pol Pot; and there were others.But the caricature worsens; and desolation; cruelty; and death follow in the path of "building socialism;" a path that began; not with Stalin but with Lenin; and was asserted at various points of the revolution by Trotsky (who crushed the Kronstadt rebellion without mercy) and most of the other Bolsheviks; including "the darling of the party;" Nikolai Bukharin.A very critical stage for Stalin's career; even his political survival; took place in the years 1922 to 1924; when Lenin very ill and partially incapacitated finally recognized Stalin's boundless cruelty and unquenchable thirst for personal; political power. Stalin had even insulted Nadezdha Krupskaya; Lenin's devoted wife; but it was too late. After Lenin's stroke of March 7; 1923 until his death in January 21; 1924; Stalin's career was in the balance; but his political opponents; like Lenin; had underestimated him.After the Party Congress of 1924; and despite the implied suggestion of what Bukharin called "the theory of sweet revenge; " as we have seen; Stalin did not relax. He admitted to his Cheka Chief; Feliks Dzerzhinsky; and Politburo member; Lev Kamenev; " To choose one's victims; to prepare one's plans minutely; to slake an implacable vengeance; and then go to bed...there is nothing sweeter in the world." And he was able to do this repeatedly and with tremendous precision; through to his anti-semitic campaign against alleged "Cosmopolitanism;" and the Doctors' Plot Affair; two decades later up to the eve of his death in 1953. This book tells you all about it.Miguel A. Faria Jr.; M.D. is the author of Cuba in Revolution - Escape from a Lost Paradise (2002) and the essays; "Stalin's Mysterious Death" (2011) and "Stalin; Communists and Fatal Statistics (2011)4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Stalin's Rise to PowerBy CarolynThis is a very interesting book about Stalin's private life; his relations with his wives and his rise to power. It describes how he played off his former comrades against each other until he finally destroyed them all. Stalin was merciless in the style of Ivan the Terrible. In all but name; he was a Tsar. One thing that I have never read in other books about Stalin is that his first language was Georgian and that he didn't learn Russian until he was 8 or 9 years old. This book states that Stalin always spoke with a strong Georgian accent and that in public he "always spoke Russian slowly; in measured and carefully developed phrasing." This is a very readable book.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Shining light on a dark corner of historyBy D. FleegerIt has been more than two decades since the breakup of the Soviet Union; yet the West in general (and the United States in particular) is still loathe to confront the horrors of communism. Robert Conquest's book is a small yet important step in a long-overdue shaking off of moral cobwebs and seeing history as it really happened.In clear; precise language Conquest documents the rise of Stalin from obscure party functionary to perhaps history's most prolific mass-murderer. Conquest also details how Stalin's political enemies in the Soviet Union; and Western leaders such as Roosevelt; failed to truly understand what a paranoid monster Stalin was.Revisionist historians - those who believe that America is the Evil Empire and that Stalin is a tragic; misunderstood figure - will detest this book. Those who care about the truth will feel otherwise.
