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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