Stalin: Czar of All the Russians

by Eugene Lyons

STALIN Of the distinguished journalist and commentator on world affairs, the New York World-Telegram says Eugene Lyons knows his Russia. Editor of The American Mercury and author of the best-seller, Assignment in Utopia, Eugene Lyons holds a unique place among foreign correspondents. He was the first foreign correspondent to interview Stalin after the latters rise to power. He is the only one ever to be granted an interview by the Shah of Persia. In his six years in Moscow, he was able to observe as were few outsiders the confused, intricate and fateful workings of the Soviet experi ment. He was the first of a now rapidly-growing band to realize the inconsistencies of Stalinism and to reveal how the Revolution had been betrayed by its purported leader. The scope of his knowledge of foreign affairs is broad after con siderable newspaper experience in this country, he went to Italy to watch the growth of Fascism in 1920-21 spent the years 1928 to 1934 in Russia and in addition reported im portant events in Germany and the Near East. Now in this country, Eugene Lyons is recognized as one of our most acute interpreters of foreign affairs on the lecture platform, on the radio, and in the magazines. STALIN Czar of all the Russias by EUGENE LYONS J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHIIADELPH A LONDON TORONTO NEW YORK AUTHORS NOTE In this brief biography of Joseph Stalin I have sought to present one of the most significant and influential figures of our time in a simple unacademic treatment. I am aware of the risks of over-simplification involved in such a pro cedure after all, Stalins career is integrated with the larger story of the Russian Revolution and the history of the Communist Party. I havedrawn upon my personal studies and impressions during the years I lived and worked in the shadow of Stalins might. But beyond that I have necessarily relied on the pioneer labors of others in this field. I want to express my indebtedness especially to Stalin A Critical Survey of Bolshevism by Boris Souvarine, and Stalin by Isaac Don Levine. I also wish to acknowledge gratefully the helpfulness of Charles Malamuth. E. L. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I ASIATIC DESPOT 13 II THE BOY Soso 24 III THE CAUCASIAN HERITAGE 32 IV EDUCATION FOR PRIESTHOOD 40 V THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONIST 49 VI BACKGROUND OF BOLSHEVISM 59 VII CRIME FOR THE CAUSE 67 VIII BAKU AND PRISONS 75 IX THE WONDERFUL GEORGIAN 84 X IN ARCTIC EXILE 92 XI 1917, THE REVOLUTIONARY YEAR 100 XII VICTORY WITHOUT GLORY in XIII STALINS CIVIL WAR 121 XIV THE FIRST BUREAUCRAT 133 XV DISOWNED BY LENIN 140 XVI STALIN INVENTS A GOD 149 XVII TROTSKY Is DEFEATED 159 XVIII STALIN BECOMES THE PARTY 159 XIX THE GREAT WRETCHEDNESS 183 XX STALIN IN CLOSE-UP 195 XXI BUILDING SOCIALISM 204 XXII COUNTER-REVOLUTION 220 XXIII THE GREAT CARNAGE 233 XXIV THE TREASON TRIALS 244 XXV FOREIGN POLICIES 254 XXVI THE GREAT STALINIST HOAX 267 XXVII TRIUMPH OF MEDIOCRITY 283 ILLUSTRATIONS JOSEPH STALIN Frontispiece FACING PAGE SOSO DjUGASHVILLI 24 Stalin as a boy in the Caucasian town of Gori PROFESSIONAL REVOLUTIONIST 50 Rogues Gallery pictures of Stalin, taken by the Czars police in 1910 IN ARCTIC EXILE 92 Stalin with Jacob Sverdlov, later the first President of Soviet Russia, and a group of political exiles beyond the Arctic Circle, in 1915 DICTATOR AND STAFF 212 Stalin among his associates of 1934 Ordzhonikidze, Molotov, Kirov, Yenukidze, Voroshilov, Kaganovich andKuibishev STALIN AND KIROV Hitherto unpublished photograph taken in Tiflis in summer of 1934 showing Kirov a few months before his assassination THEIR LAST PARADE 250 Soviet leaders reviewing a May Day parade on Red Square, from the Lenin Mausoleum Stalin, Tukha chevsky, Byelov, Voroshilov, Yegorov and Budenny STUDY IN RED AND BROWN 274 Stalin, Molotov and Nazi Foreign Minister von Rib bentrop immediately after the signing of the Russo-German Pact on August 23, 1939 STALIN

Genres: History

300 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1940

About the author

American Anticommunist.

In his younger years Lyons was a member of the Young People’s Socialist League the youth section of the Socialist Party USA.

He became critical of the Soviet Union after working there as a correspondent of United Press International.

During the early 1940s and the Second Red Scare which followed World War II, Lyons was a frequent contributor to the popular press on anti-Communist themes, targeting liberals if Lyons deemed them inadequate in their denunciations of the Soviet regime.

Lyons also wrote a biography of President Herbert Hoover.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1940 Lyons blames the violence of the Russian Communist mostly on the fact that violence is inherently embedded in Russian culture and its people. He also blames a part of Stalin's Caucasian ancestry. According to Lyons Stalin even identified as Asian.

The author sees Stalin as someone who moves and talks slowly, is calculating and as an anti-intellectual compared to Hitler and Mussolini who were flamboyant and overacting.

[Eric Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, the title is incorrect. The book is called "Stalin: Czar of all the Russias".

This is how history books used to look: no index, no footnotes, no bibliography. Life for historians was easier in 1940.

Eugene Lyons, a journalist, was the first Western newspaperman to interview Josef Stalin in 1930. He was impressed with the man, and actuallly liked him. But his views changed and he became one of Stalin's harshest critics. This is a well-written book and a very quick read, but not entirely trustworthy (those missing footnotes and bibliography explain this).

Like many writers of the time, Lyons believed that the young Stalin was, for a while at least, a collaborator with the Tsarist secret police, the Okhrana. But the stories Lyons told about this were recycled from other not-entriely-reputable sources and he offered nothing new.

In 1938, Leon Trotsky wrote an angry letter to his close comrade Max Shachtman -- this was before the two had a falling out -- saying: "It is difficult to understand here why you are so tolerant and even friendly toward Mr. Eugene Lyons. He speaks, it seems, at your banquets; at the same time he speaks at the banquets of the White Guards."

Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed.

[A.J. McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a superb portrayal of the life and times of Joseph Stalin. It begins with an account of the culture of Georgia, where Stalin was born and grew up. Georgian culture valued violence and revenge and power, all characteristics of Stalin's career as a revolutionary and tyrant. It continues with the story of the foundation of the Bolshevik party, the leadership of the revolution by people like Lenin and Trotsky, the manoeuvring behind the scenes of Stalin by which he achieved supreme power in the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin. There is then an astonishing account of the tyranny of Stalin, his personality cult, the purges and famines and mass murders of his rule. These pages are not for the faint-hearted. Your jaw will fall open in sheer disbelief, not only that Stalin could have brought all this about, but also that so many people could have followed him and made all this happen by their blind obedience. The book (which was written in 1941) ends with a commentary of Stalin's possible legacy and what the future might bring. Eugene Lyons is a superb writer, and he really knows his material. He is able to condense enormous amounts of details into brief summaries, giving you an overall impression of what is going on. One merit of the book is that it is only 250 pages long (the edition I read was the Right Book Club edition of 1941 which I borrowed from a university library) so the reader is not swamped with endless elaborate details. This book is a classic!

[Nanto]

Menilik latar belakang penulisnya dan akses dia terhadap sumber data, serta jaman penulisannya, buku ini tampaknya sangat menarik untuk diburu.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable deprecatory account of Stalin first published in 1940.