In the second volume of his definitive biography, , historian Stephen Kotkin examines the decade where Joseph Stalin transitioned from a powerful dictator into a world-shaping despot. The narrative follows Stalin’s relentless "revolution from above," his internal purges, and the strategic chess match with Nazi Germany that culminated in the largest land invasion in history.
: Nearly a million people were executed, including the top military brass and cultural elite. Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941
Stalin’s primary goal in 1929 was to force a backward peasant economy into "socialist modernity". This was achieved through two brutal, simultaneous campaigns: In the second volume of his definitive biography,