Stalin

He held absolute power over the Soviet Union for 29 years. Stalin succeeded his hero Lenin in 1924. From then on, he induced widespread famines to enforce farm collectives and eliminated perceived enemies through massive purges. In 1953, as Joseph Stalin lay dying, doctors were afraid to even examine him. This harsh leader of the Soviet Union was known to turn on even his closest advisors, sending them to prison to be tried as enemies of the state. Stalin came to power by joining a group of revolutionaries that in 1917 overthrew the Russian Czar, or emperor.

The Cold War division of Europe was not inevitable―the acclaimed author of Stalin’s Genocides shows how postwar Europeans fought to determine their own destinies.