• The Leader and the System

    Author(s):
    Michael David-Fox (see profile)
    Date:
    2016
    Subject(s):
    Twentieth century, World politics, Soviet Union
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    biography, Stalinism, Stalin, 20th century, Political history
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6CF7P
    Abstract:
    First para: Do new biographies of the dictator provoke deeper analysis of the Soviet system? Will the life of Stalin open up new ways of understanding Stalinism? Past experience, it has to be said, raises doubts. Of all the biographies of Stalin, few have integrated, much less altered, the state of the art in Soviet history.1 The main reason for this fact also explains why so many Stalin biographies get written: they sell. The temptation is perennial for semilearned amateurs to pen sensationalist blockbusters. More sober-minded academic biographies, when written by those focused on the leader more than the system, tend to elide the much more difficult conceptual questions of how Stalin shaped— and, crucially, was shaped by—first revolutionary Russia and then the broader Soviet political system, culture, and ideology.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    Slavica
    Pub. Date:
    Winter 2016
    Journal:
    Kritika
    Volume:
    17
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    119 - 129
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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