This is the verbatim record of a secret and hitherto unpublished meeting, held in the Kremlin in April 1940, devoted to a post mortem of the Finnish campaign.

"Is there a Western world leader whose reputation has not been re-analysed and reassessed, usually to his or her detriment?" With this question, Harold Shukman introduces "Redefining Stalinism," a collection of articles published 50 years after Stalin's death. With the opening of Soviet archives to an unprecedented degree since the demise of the USSR, totalitarian and revisionist arguments about Stalin and the Stalinist system can be more closely explored. Topics range from a survey of recent Western views of Stalin's Russia, to an account of Stalin's approach to intelligence, two separate analyses of totalitarianism, the politics of obligation, the cult of the dead in Soviet political memory, and the de-mythologising of Stalin in the years immediately following his death.

From 14-17 April 1940, a meeting was held in the Kremlin to examine and analyze the performance of the Red Army in the recent Soviet-Finnish War. T he participants were all the army commanders who had taken part in the campaign, and some members of the Politburo, notably Stalin, Molotov and Voroshilov. This book is an English translation of the verbatim record held in the Russian State Socio-Political History Archives in Moscow. Marshals Kliment Voroshilov and Grigory Kulik co-chaired the sessions, but it was Stalin who guided the proceedings. Forty-six regimental, divisional, corps, army and front commanders, and senior Red Army officials delivered their reports and engaged in debate. Stalin gave a long speech at the closing of the last session in which he expounded his views on all aspects of military policy.

Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and authoritarian dictators in world history, who plunged Russia into a barbarous nightmare, leaving behind a damaged nation and a legacy of grief.

This concise biography presents Lenin’s heir from his humble and troubled beginnings to the highest rank of all: General Secretary of the Communist Party. Stalin: A Pocket Biography is an accessible account of a complex tyrant, perfect for students or anyone taking a first look into modern Russian history.