Stalin

An Unknown Portrait

Description
Table of contents
Reviews

This exceptional volume of oral history contains exciting new information about Stalin's actual and political 'family', the political Mafia and the clans around him. The author has interviewed key politicians who survived the Stalin era, including officials of the KGB and the Komsomol, as well as people who had personal contact with the dictator as secretaries or interpreters. Kun's special expertise and his access to archival sources in Russia have resulted in a work revealing jealously guarded secrets.

In addition to the interviews and hitherto unpublished correspondence between Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan, Zhdanov and others, the book also contains a fascinating selection from a private collection of photos of Stalin, his family members, and various political actors of the period. Extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index of names and photos add to the value of the volume.

PART 1. PROLONGED YOUTH
CHAPTER 1. THE CHILDHOOD OF SOSO
CHAPTER 2. WHY SOSO DZHUGASHVILI DROPPED OUT OF THE SEMINARY
CHAPTER 3. “COMRADE KOBA” ENTERS THE SCENE
CHAPTER 4. THE PAST REWRITTEN
CHAPTER 5. WHY STALIN WAS CALLED A “MAIL-COACH ROBBER”
CHAPTER 6. ESCAPE AND LOVE
CHAPTER 7. EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT
CHAPTER 8. WHY LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGES?
CHAPTER 9. WANTED: A THEORETICIAN
CHAPTER 10. THE LAST PERIOD IN EXILE

PART II. THE “MASTER’S” FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
CHAPTER 11. KIRA ALLILUYEVA
CHAPTER 12. THE ALLILUYEV GRANDPARENTS
CHAPTER 13. NADEZHDA ALLILUYEVA
CHAPTER 14. COMPETITION FOR THE WIDOWED STALIN
CHAPTER 15. ALL THE SOVIET WORLD IS A STAGE
CHAPTER 16. ALEKSEY TOLSTOY. THE SOVIET COUNT
CHAPTER 17. EXPULSION FROM PARADISE
CHAPTER 18. POLINA MOLOTOVA
CHAPTER 19. ANASTAS MIKOYAN
CHAPTER 20. ABEL YENUKIDZE
CHAPTER 21. THE “LOST” LETTERS
CHAPTER 22. THE THREAT OF WAR
CHAPTER 23. YAKOV DZHUGASHVILI
CHAPTER 24. “RED VASKA”
CHAPTER 25. THE YOUNG GENERAL IN PRISON
CHAPTER 26. ANNA ALLILUYEVA
CHAPTER 27. FYODOR ALLILUYEV
CHAPTER 28. PAVEL ALLILUYEV
CHAPTER 29. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SVANIDZE FAMILY
CHAPTER 30. FALSE MEDICAL REPORTS
CHAPTER 31. YEVGENIYA ALLILUYEVA
CHAPTER 32. VLADIMIR PRISON YEARS
CHAPTER 33. “HE WAS AN EVIL MAN, THE WRETCH”

Choice

"The book contains a number of fascinating revelations; in particular, it offers a wealth of new information about Stalin's persecution of the families of his two wives, Yekaterina Svanidze and Nadezhda Alliluyeva. An additional strength is the inclusion of over 300 photos from the collecction of David King. ... this impressive book is recommended for all collections with interests in Russian history."

Financial Times

"The best of all the books this year - and highly significant in terms of genuine new research - was Miklos Kun's Stalin: An Unknown Portrait, a splendid, subtle and deeply researched picture of the dictator and his circle, filled with new photographs. Kun manages to give a much more intimate and true picture of the workings of the inner circle: among several gems, he quotes Stalin's correspondence with his 10-year-old daughter Svetlana, who cheekily quizzes him on power and sends him orders signed "Svetlana Stalina the Boss".

Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas

"Die persönliche Prägung des eigenen Lebens durch die mächtigen Stalin-Legenden haben den ungarischen, 1946 in der Sowjetunion geborenen Historiker dazu bewogen, seine eigene Stalin-Biographie vorzulegen, gleichsam um sich selbst von der immer noch herrschenden Mythen zu befreien. Herausgekommen is dabei ein sehr persönliches, engagiertes, um Aufklärung bemühtes Buch in Bildbandformat mit unzähligen Abbildungen von Stalin und seinen Weggefährten. Im Mittelpunkt steht das Anliegen, die offiziellen, von der 'Beria-Bande' zusammentragenen Daten und die offizielle Biographie des 'Kratkij kurs' mit der Wahrheit zu konfrontieren".

Russian Review

"Kun is the grandson of Bela Kun, who was the leader of the nascent Hungarian Communist party and the dominant figure of the ill-fated Communist regime of 1919. Also, more importantly, Bela Kun was a refugee in Moscow for almost two decades, and ultimately a victim of Stalin's purges. Miklos Kun's family connections enabled him to collect a valuable archive and in the course of the 1990s to find and interview some of the diminishing number of people who knew Stalin."