28 Nov 2006

Reassessment of Stalin by UCC Historian

UCC historian Professor Geoffrey Roberts has written a provocative and challenging study of the former Soviet leader Stalin, a study that is expected to change the way Stalin and his place in history are understood. Professor Roberts offers a radical reassessment of Stalin both as a war leader during the Second World War and as a peacemaker during the Cold War that followed.

In Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953 [published by Yale University Press, November 2006], Professor Roberts argues that not only was Stalin the greatest warlord of the Second World War but that he was also a statesman who pursued a long-term détente with Britain and the United States, and a domestic reformer who paved the way for the dissolution of his own system after he died in 1953. Balancing the book's positive appraisal of Stalin's leadership qualities is a frank exploration of the communist dictator's crimes and their impact on the Soviet people, especially during the war.

Stalin is shown to be a despot who helped save the world for democracy; a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly; a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist; and a warlord who took upon himself a role as architect of the post-war peace.

Although controversial in its challenge to many of the standard assessments of Stalin, the professor's latest book has attracted some notable endorsements from British, American and Russian historians. Britain's foremost expert on the Second World War, Professor Richard Overy, says: "Geoffrey Roberts has succeeded in writing a book...that is up-to-date, accessible and clear. Above all he takes Stalin seriously as the Soviet Union's extraordinary warlord".

Professor Melvyn P. Leffler, former president of the American Historical Association, says: "Roberts provide a provocative reinterpretation of Stalin's policies in hot war and cold war. This book is essential for illuminating the intersection of strategy and ideology in Stalin's thinking and behaviour" while Russian historian Constantine Pleshakov - whose views on Stalin are very different from the Professor Roberts' - says the book is "a fascinating study of the greatest events in the Soviet Union's history" and "ushers in a new debate" about Stalin.

The American edition of Professor Roberts' book is to be launched in January with a roundtable discussion on H-Net - the international internet forum for historians hosted by Michigan University. The distinguished panel will include internationally renowned experts on Stalin, Soviet history and the Second World War.

Professor Roberts' book is based on a decade of research in American, British and Russian archives. His arguments and conclusions are supported by 1200 notes and a 17-page "select bibliography" that lists, among other items, more than 100 volumes of Russian-language archive documents. In his preface to the book Professor Roberts acknowledges UCC's generous support for his work through sabbatical leave and research grants. Much of the writing of the book took place in 2004-2005, when the author was an IRCHSS Government of Ireland Senior Research Fellow.  


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