The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life

by Roman Brackman

This account of Stalin's life begins with his early years, the family breakup caused by the suspicion that the boy was the result of an adulterous affair, the abuse by his father and the growth of the traumatized boy into criminal, spy, and finally one of the 20th century's political monsters.

Genres: History, Russia, Biography

486 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2000

Reviews

[Gregory Tabachnik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book describes many real life events and facts. But the author provides his own perceptions and beliefs of some of those events as proven facts. Not always it is correct. For example, his claims about Stalin's poisoning of Lenin and Sverdlov, orders to kill Gamarnik and Ordzonikidze are just nonproven speculations, not facts. Even the major plot of this book - Stalin's role as an agent provocateur of tsarist Okhrana is not proven to be valid by historians and is debated up to this day. Most of Stalin's decisions in his life the author explains from the point of view of him being scared about the revelation of his pre-revolution activity as an undercover agent. Too simple and very questionable approach. Stalin was the most brutal dictator in human history, and to explain his ruling through this simplistic approach is nonsense. To be able to get something valuable from this historical book, the reader should be prepared and cover lots of other much more serious literature to be able to distinguish author's thoughts and beliefs from proven facts and events.

[Yves Panis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bon. La thèse du livre est que Staline a été un espion de l'Okhrana. Et que finalement toute sa politique de terreur s'explique par son soucis d'effacer les traces de son passé pré-révolutionnaire. Difficile de se faire une opinion. Car les historiens récents n'en parlent plus. Peu importe finalement car le livre reste passionnant et foisonne d'anecdotes.