The last days of Stalin / Joshua Rubenstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rubenstein, Joshua, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953--Death and burial.

Stalin, Joseph.

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953.

Jews.

Social change--Soviet Union--History.

Social change.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (299 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A gripping account of the months before and after Stalin's death and how his demise reshaped the course of twentieth-century history Joshua Rubenstein's riveting account takes us back to the second half of 1952 when no one could foresee an end to Joseph Stalin's murderous regime. He was poised to challenge the newly elected U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower with armed force, and was also broadening a vicious campaign against Soviet Jews. Stalin's sudden collapse and death in March 1953 was as dramatic and mysterious as his life. It is no overstatement to say that his passing marked a major turning point in the twentieth century. The Last Days of Stalin is an engaging, briskly told account of the dictator's final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, and the unfolding of Soviet and international events in the months after his death. Rubenstein throws fresh light onthe devious plotting of Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev, and other "comrades in arms" who well understood the significance of the dictator's impending death;the witness-documented events of his death as compared to official published versions;Stalin's rumored plans to forcibly exile Soviet Jews;the responses of Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles to the Kremlin's conciliatory gestures after Stalin's death; andthe momentous repercussions when Stalin's regime of terror was cut short.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE. THE DEATH OF STALIN

CHAPTER TWO. A NEW PURGE

CHAPTER THREE. STALIN'S PARANOIA AND THE JEWS

CHAPTER FOUR. THE KREMLIN MOVES ON

CHAPTER FIVE. THE SURPRISE OF REFORM

CHAPTER SIX. A CHANCE FOR PEACE?

CHAPTER SEVEN. THE END OF THE BEGINNING

EPILOGUE

NOTES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 230-253) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-21676-9

OCLC:

948756446