Stalin

Many people associate Joseph Stalin with terror and merciless repression, yet this biography traces how the man who would become known as the Man of Steel began as a modest, strict-minded peasant from Georgia. Ian Grey examines the qualities that lifted Stalin above his rivals: sharp intellect, self-control, keen judgment, an iron will, and above all a visionary conviction that he must steer Russia toward a great future.

Grey presents Stalin as a contradictory figure. His authority grew out of the tsarist traditions he claimed to despise, and his brutality served a determination to make his party strong. Driven by his commitment to building communist Russia, he set aside ordinary morality, but his personal magnetism still won the loyalty of his associates and the devotion of ordinary citizens. Even Winston Churchill regarded him with a sense of awe. The book also charts Russia's transformation from a backward country into a world power, and it portrays a leader known both as The Implacable and as Beloved Father.