The Death of Stalin
Sheila Fitzpatrick
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From the publisher
When Joseph Stalin died in 1953, he had been the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union for over twenty years, having presided over the ruthless modernisation of the early 1930s, the Great Purges later in the decade, the near-catastrophe and ultimate victory of World War II, and the country’s postwar emergence as a superpower. He was surrounded by a cult that made him seem godlike; no successors were in sight. His death was bound to be a deeply unsettling event, both in the Soviet Union and elsewhere.
In The Death of Stalin, Sheila Fitzpatrick draws on her unparalleled knowledge of Stalin’s circle and Soviet society to tell a tale that blends black comedy with forensic analysis of the problems and opportunities – often missed – created by the death of the dictator. The final chapter deals with Stalin’s eventful afterlife, including his recent resurrection in Putin’s Russia. This is both a riveting read and a salutary one.
'Wise, comprehensive and brilliantly succinct. Sheila Fitzpatrick gives us the essentials of Stalin’s life and death in a highly readable yet impeccably scholarly form'
—Owen Matthews
'Sheila Fitzpatrick knows more than almost anyone about the Soviet system'
—Orlanda Figes
'Close to a miracle … Immensely readable'
—Slavoj Zizek on The Shortest History of the Soviet Union
'A series of wonderful, horrifying and at times hilarious insights into what the top Stalinists were actually like'
—The Times on On Stalin's Team
'Highly authoritative'
—Times Literary Supplement on The Shortest History of the Soviet Union