The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union, 1929-1953

New Frontiers in History

by Helen Skelton

This is a penetrating and up-to-date account of one of the dramatic aspects of 20th-century history. Published fifty years after Stalin's death, and fully revised and expanded, this second edition looks at the entire period of his rule and includes chapters on ideology, politics, economic development, social change, the nationalities, culture and external relations (including the Second World War) and the Great Terror. The interpretation stresses the connection between internal and external policy and the influence of ideology on both. Mawdsley includes many primary sources, some republished here together for the first time in many years. Others are secret items from the Russian archives that have only become available in the last decade.

Genres: History, Russia, Politics, Soviet Union, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 1998

About the author

Helen Skelton is a popular television host in the UK. She is the second woman ever to complete the Namibia 24-Hour Ultra Marathon, she solo-kayaked two thousand miles down the Amazon River while breaking two Guinness World Records in the process, and she was the first person to reach the South Pole on a bicycle. She lives in England.