Stalin's War

Stalin's War
Sean McMeekin
RRP:
NZ$ 62.99
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NZ$ 50.39
Paperback
h198 x 129mm - 848pg
28 Apr 2022 UK
International import eta 10-19 days
9780141989297
Out Of Stock
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' Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist' Simon Sebag Montefiore In this remarkable, ground-breaking new book Sean McMeekin marks a generational shift in our view of Stalin as an ally in the Second World War. Stalin' s only difference from Hitler, he argues, was that he was a successful murderous predator. With Hitler dead and the Third Reich in ruins, Stalin created an immense new Communist empire. Among his holdings were Czechoslovakia and Poland, the fates of which had first set the West against the Nazis and, of course, China and North Korea, the ramifications of which we still live with today. Until Barbarossa wrought a public relations miracle, turning him into a plucky ally of the West, Stalin had murdered millions, subverted every norm of international behaviour, invaded as many countries as Hitler had, and taken great swathes of territory he would continue to keep. In the larger sense the global conflict grew out of not only German and Japanese aggression but Stalin' s manoeuvrings, orchestrated to provoke wars of attrition between the capitalist powers in Europe and in Asia. Throughout the war Stalin chose to do only what would benefit his own regime, not even aiding in the effort against Japan until the conflict' s last weeks. Above all, Stalin' s War uncovers the shocking details of how the US government (to the detriment of itself and its other allies) fuelled Stalin' s war machine, blindly agreeing to every Soviet demand, right down to agents supplying details of the atomic bomb. ' McMeekin' s approach in Stalin' s War is both original and refreshing, written as it is with a wonderful clarity' Antony Beevor
Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore McMeekin' s approach in Stalin' s War is both original and refreshing and the book is written with a wonderful clarity. -- Antony Beevor A sweeping reassessment of World War II seeking to "illuminate critical matters long obscured by the obsessively German-centric literature" on the subject . . . Yet another winner for McMeekin . . . Brilliantly contrarian history. * Kirkus * McMeekin draws from recently opened Soviet archives to shed light on Stalin' s dark reasoning and shady tactics . . . Packed with incisive character sketches and illuminating analyses of military and diplomatic maneuvers, this is a skillful and persuasive reframing of the causes, developments, and repercussions of WWII. * Publishers Weekly * Sean McMeekin' s new book fills a massive gap in the historiography of World War II. Based on exhaustive researches in Russian and other archives, his examination of Stalin' s foreign policy explores fresh avenues and explodes many myths, perhaps most significant being that of unwittingly exaggerated emphasis on ' Hitler' s war' . He shows conclusively that the two tyrants were equally responsible, both for the outbreak of war and the appalling slaughter which ensued. -- Nikolai Tolstoy Stalin' s War is above all about strategy: the failure of Roosevelt and Churchill to make shrewd choices as World War II played out. McMeekin brilliantly argues that instead of weighting the European and Pacific theatres to favour their own interests - and weaken the inevitably antagonistic Soviet Union - FDR and Churchill left the most critical parts of Asia unguarded while they ground down the German army, a decision that favoured Stalin' s interests far more than their own. -- Geoffrey Wawro
Sean McMeekin is Professor of History at Bard College, New York. For some years he taught at Bilkent University, Ankara. His books include the highly successful TheBerlin-Baghdad Express (Penguin), The Russian Origins of the First World War and The Ottoman Endgame (Penguin).
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9780141989297
Published: 28 Apr 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Books
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Paperback
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Spine: 30mm
Weight: 350g
Pages: 848

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