Through exclusive archive access and interviews, Dmitri Volkogonov provides a reinterpretation of the life and ruthless career of Leon Trotksy, one of the most influential figures of the 20th century whose faith in the world socialist revolution remained undimmed to the end. This biography examines Leon Trotsky’s career as a revolutionary before World War I, including his success as chief organizer of the October revolution, becoming a military hero of the Russian civil war, and his outspoken criticism of the Stalinist style of leadership. Expelled from the Communist Party, written out of the history of the revolution, and murdered in Mexico by Stalin’s agents, Volkogonov shines a light on this dynamic public speaker, brilliant organizer, and theorist. Through interviews with Stalin’s overseas hit-squad and relatives of Trotsky, as well as access to top-secret Soviet archives, Trotsky lends insight into one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century.
Dmitri Volkogonov, the special assistant to Boris Yeltsin, uses secret Soviet archives to shift the perspective of Lenin’s time as a leader, revealing the Founding Father as a cruel totalitarian responsible for some of the worst moments in the Soviet state. In a biography that drastically changes the perception of Vladimir Lenin, a Soviet revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, numerous secrets are exposed from previously off-limits KGB archives. After three years of research through more than 3,700 once-secret documents, Volkogonov reveals the information found in the system concerning Lenin and his legacy, painting a compelling, shocking story about the Soviet founding father and the system he created. From the creation of concentration camps to brutal repression of church and the media, and the strategic cultivation of a cult of personality, Lenin reveals the truth behind the cruel and totalitarian leader’s past.
The late Dmitri Volkogonov emerged in the last decade of his life as the preeminent Russian historian of this century. His crowning achievement is the account of the seven General Secretaries of the Soviet Empire in Autopsy for an Empire, a book that tells the entire history of the Soviet failure. Having utilized his still-unequaled access to the Soviet military archives, Communist Party documents, and secret Presidential Archive, Volkogonov sheds new light on some of the major events of twentieth-century history and the men who shaped them. We witness Lenin’s paranoia about foreigners in Russia, and his creation of a privileged system for top Party members; Stalin’s repression of the nationalities and his singular conduct of foreign policy; the origins and conduct of the Korean War; Kruschev’s relationship with the odious secret service chief, Beria, and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis; Brezhnev’s vanity and stupidity; a new view of Poland and Solidarity; the ossification of Soviet bureaucracy and the cynicism of the Politburo; and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Leninism and his role in history. By profiling the seven successive Soviet leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev, Volkogonov also depicts in painstaking detail the progressive self-destruction of the Leninist system. In his clear-eyed character assessments and political evaluations, lucidly translated and edited by Harold Shukman, Dmitri Volkogonov has once again performed an invaluable service to twentieth-century history.
‘Based on research among thousands of unpublished documents concealed in the Communist Party archives until the fall of the regime, Lenin: Life and Legacy is a crushing indictment of the regime’s founder...’ Sally Laird, Observer
The late Dmitri Volkogonov emerged in the last decade of his life as the preeminent Russian historian of this century. His crowning achievement is the account of the seven General Secretaries of the Soviet Empire in Autopsy for an Empire, a book that tells the entire history of the Soviet failure. Having utilized his still-unequaled access to the Soviet military archives, Communist Party documents, and secret Presidential Archive, Volkogonov sheds new light on some of the major events of twentieth-century history and the men who shaped them. We witness Lenin’s paranoia about foreigners in Russia, and his creation of a privileged system for top Party members; Stalin’s repression of the nationalities and his singular conduct of foreign policy; the origins and conduct of the Korean War; Kruschev’s relationship with the odious secret service chief, Beria, and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis; Brezhnev’s vanity and stupidity; a new view of Poland and Solidarity; the ossification of Soviet bureaucracy and the cynicism of the Politburo; and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Leninism and his role in history. By profiling the seven successive Soviet leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev, Volkogonov also depicts in painstaking detail the progressive self-destruction of the Leninist system. In his clear-eyed character assessments and political evaluations, lucidly translated and edited by Harold Shukman, Dmitri Volkogonov has once again performed an invaluable service to twentieth-century history.
Through exclusive archive access and interviews, Dmitri Volkogonov provides a reinterpretation of the life and ruthless career of Leon Trotksy, one of the most influential figures of the 20th century whose faith in the world socialist revolution remained undimmed to the end. This biography examines Leon Trotsky’s career as a revolutionary before World War I, including his success as chief organizer of the October revolution, becoming a military hero of the Russian civil war, and his outspoken criticism of the Stalinist style of leadership. Expelled from the Communist Party, written out of the history of the revolution, and murdered in Mexico by Stalin’s agents, Volkogonov shines a light on this dynamic public speaker, brilliant organizer, and theorist. Through interviews with Stalin’s overseas hit-squad and relatives of Trotsky, as well as access to top-secret Soviet archives, Trotsky lends insight into one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century.
Dmitri Volkogonov, the special assistant to Boris Yeltsin, uses secret Soviet archives to shift the perspective of Lenin’s time as a leader, revealing the Founding Father as a cruel totalitarian responsible for some of the worst moments in the Soviet state. In a biography that drastically changes the perception of Vladimir Lenin, a Soviet revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, numerous secrets are exposed from previously off-limits KGB archives. After three years of research through more than 3,700 once-secret documents, Volkogonov reveals the information found in the system concerning Lenin and his legacy, painting a compelling, shocking story about the Soviet founding father and the system he created. From the creation of concentration camps to brutal repression of church and the media, and the strategic cultivation of a cult of personality, Lenin reveals the truth behind the cruel and totalitarian leader’s past.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.