Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was an enigmatic leader, a resolute and audacious politician who had an immense impact on 20th century world history. Lenin's life and career have been at the center of much ideological debate for decades. The post-Soviet era has seen a revived interest and re-evaluation of the Russian Revolution and Lenin's legacy.
This new biography gives a fresh and original account of Lenin's personal life and political career. Christopher Read draws on a broad range of primary and secondary sources, making use of archive material made available in the Glasnost and post-Soviet eras. Focal points of this study are Lenin's revolutionary ascetic personality; his exploitation of cultural, educational and propaganda means; his relationship to Marxism; his changing class analysis of Russia; and his "populist" instincts.
This biography is an excellent and reliable introduction to one of the key figures of the Russian Revolution and post-tsarist Russia.

This new biography of Stalin offers an accessible and up-to-date representation of one of the twentieth-century's defining figures, as well as new insights, analysis and illumination to deepen our understanding of his actions, intentions and the nature of the power that he wielded. Christopher Read examines Stalin's contribution to and impact on Russian and world events in the first half of the twentieth century. The biography brings together the avalanche of sources and scholarship which followed the collapse of the system Stalin constructed, including the often neglected writings and speeches of Stalin himself. In addition to a detailed narrative and analysis of Stalin's rule, chapters also cover his early years and humble beginnings in a small town at a remote outpost of the Russian Empire, his role in the revolution, his relationships with Lenin, Trotsky and others in the 1920s, and his rise to become one of the most powerful figures in human history. The book closes with an account of Stalin's afterlife and legacy, both in the immediate aftermath of his death and in the decades since. This concise account of Stalin's life is the perfect introduction for students of modern Russian history.

This new biography of Stalin offers an accessible and up-to-date representation of one of the twentieth-century's defining figures, as well as new insights, analysis and illumination to deepen our understanding of his actions, intentions and the nature of the power that he wielded. Christopher Read examines Stalin's contribution to and impact on Russian and world events in the first half of the twentieth century. The biography brings together the avalanche of sources and scholarship which followed the collapse of the system Stalin constructed, including the often neglected writings and speeches of Stalin himself. In addition to a detailed narrative and analysis of Stalin's rule, chapters also cover his early years and humble beginnings in a small town at a remote outpost of the Russian Empire, his role in the revolution, his relationships with Lenin, Trotsky and others in the 1920s, and his rise to become one of the most powerful figures in human history. The book closes with an account of Stalin's afterlife and legacy, both in the immediate aftermath of his death and in the decades since. This concise account of Stalin's life is the perfect introduction for students of modern Russian history.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was an enigmatic leader, a resolute and audacious politician who had an immense impact on 20th-century world history. Lenin's life and career have been at the centre of much ideological debate for decades. The post-Soviet era has seen a revived interest and re-evaluation of the Russian Revolution and Lenin's legacy. This biography gives a fresh and original account of Lenin's personal life and political career. Christopher Read draws on a broad range of primary and secondary sources, making use of archive material made available in the Glasnost and post-Soviet eras. Focal points of this study are Lenin's revolutionary ascetic personality; his exploitation of cultural, educational and agitprop means; his relationship to Marxism; his changing class analysis of Russia; and his "populist" instincts. This biography is a useful introduction to one of the key figures of the Russian Revolution and post-tsarist Russia.

Christopher Read takes students through the history of the Stalin years, covering the key points of his rule from the late 1920s to the post-war years, using post-Soviet articles which provide more balanced and scholarly assessments of the leader's time in power. Taken together with Read's own contributions, which include an up-to-date historiographic survey, they constitute a complex and dynamic history of the central features of a terrible era.