Stalin：Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- 作者
- 出版社 Penguin
- 出版时间 2014年11月 第1版
- ISBN 9781594203794
内容简介
AmagnificentnewbiographythatrevolutionizesourunderstandingofStalinandhisworldIthasthequalityofmyth:apoorcobbler’sson,aseminarianfromanoppressedouterprovinceoftheRussianempire,reinventshimselfasatopleaderinabandofrevolutionaryzealots.Whenthebandseizescontrolofthecountryintheaftermathoftotalworldwar,theformerseminarianruthlesslydominatesthenewregimeuntilhestandsasabsoluterulerofavastandterriblestateapparatus,withdominionoverEurasia.WhilestillbuildinghispowerbasewithintheBolshevikdictatorship,heembarksuponthegreatestgambleofhispoliticallifeandthelargestprogramofsocialreengineeringeverattempted:thecollectivizationofallagricultureandindustryacrossonesixthoftheearth.Millionswilldie,andmanymoremillionswillsuffer,butthemanwillpushthroughtotheendagainstallresistanceanddoubts.Wheredidsuchpowercomefrom?InStalin,StephenKotkinoffersabiographythat,atlonglast,isequaltothisshrewd,sociopathic,charismaticdictatorinallhisdimensions.ThecharacterofStalinemergesasbothastuteandblinkered,cynicalandtruebelieving,peopleorientedandvicious,cannyenoughtoseethroughpeoplebutpronetononsensicalbeliefs.Weseeamaninclinedtodespotismwhocouldbeutterlycharming,apragmaticideologue,aleaderwhoobsessedoverslightsyetwasaprecociousgeostrategicthinker—uniqueamongBolsheviks—andyetwhomadeegregiousstrategicblunders.Throughitall,weseeStalin’sunflinchingpersistence,hissheerforceofwill—perhapstheultimatekeytounderstandinghisindeliblemarkonhistory.StalingivesanintimateviewoftheBolshevikregime’sinnergeographyofpower,bringingtotheforefreshmaterialsfromSovietmilitaryintelligenceandthesecretpolice.KotkinrejectstheinheritedwisdomaboutStalin’spsychologicalmakeup,showingusinsteadhowStalin’snearparanoiawasfundamentallypolitical,andcloselytrackstheBolshevikrevolution’sstructuralparanoia,thepredicamentofaCommunistregimeinanoverwhelminglycapitalistworld,surroundedandpenetratedbyenemies.Atthesametime,KotkindemonstratestheimpossibilityofunderstandingStalin’smomentousdecisionsoutsideofthecontextofthetragichistoryofimperialRussia.Theproductofadecadeofintrepidresearch,Stalinisalandmarkachievement,aworkthatrecaststhewaywethinkabouttheSovietUnion,revolution,dictatorship,thetwentiethcentury,andindeedtheartofhistoryitself.
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