Having gone through a dozen or so monographs, textbooks and biographies on Hitler, the politics of Nazi Germany and the evolution and nature of the Holocaust, I feel that it is only appropriate to move on to that other great tyrant of the 20'th century.
The problem I've had in tracking down what to read is that the issue of Stalin's regime and its crimes appears to still be fairly politicized. Especially when it comes to the various mass executions and imprisonment, a lot of people are very happy to draw broad-brush parallels to the Holocaust, usually more in serving their own political agenda than for any serious concerns for the facts and memories of the crimes. Comparing and contrasting is of course important, but I often find that people invoke clumsy comparisons with Nazi Germany at the expense of understanding the USSR and its crimes in their own right.
Essentially, I'm looking for works that use sources in reasonably conservative ways, that compare and contrast different approaches and perspectives in analysing various aspects of Stalin's (and Lenin's) USSR - politics, hierarchies, ideology, and so forth.
Something like the following:
1. An introduction to Soviet historiography discussing available sources, their limitations, etc. If it explains the general political structure of the USSR as well, that would help too.
2. Perhaps some kind of biography of Stalin that focuses on his motivations and means of attaining power.
3. A book or books with serious documentation of Soviet crimes.
4. Books about Soviet propaganda, ideology, its relationship to Imperial Russia, etc.
I'm thankful for any tips. I prefer works of a more scholarly type, but good popularizations by serious historians are welcome too.
The problem I've had in tracking down what to read is that the issue of Stalin's regime and its crimes appears to still be fairly politicized. Especially when it comes to the various mass executions and imprisonment, a lot of people are very happy to draw broad-brush parallels to the Holocaust, usually more in serving their own political agenda than for any serious concerns for the facts and memories of the crimes. Comparing and contrasting is of course important, but I often find that people invoke clumsy comparisons with Nazi Germany at the expense of understanding the USSR and its crimes in their own right.
Essentially, I'm looking for works that use sources in reasonably conservative ways, that compare and contrast different approaches and perspectives in analysing various aspects of Stalin's (and Lenin's) USSR - politics, hierarchies, ideology, and so forth.
Something like the following:
1. An introduction to Soviet historiography discussing available sources, their limitations, etc. If it explains the general political structure of the USSR as well, that would help too.
2. Perhaps some kind of biography of Stalin that focuses on his motivations and means of attaining power.
3. A book or books with serious documentation of Soviet crimes.
4. Books about Soviet propaganda, ideology, its relationship to Imperial Russia, etc.
I'm thankful for any tips. I prefer works of a more scholarly type, but good popularizations by serious historians are welcome too.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1Y29nQh
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