Bibliograph

Stalin's library, a dictator and his books, Geoffrey Roberts

Type

Label

Stalin's library, a dictator and his books, Geoffrey Roberts

Language

eng

resource.accompanyingMatter

technical information on music

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

Literary text for sound recordings

other

Main title

Stalin's library

Responsibility statement

Geoffrey Roberts

Sub title

a dictator and his books

Summary

A compelling intellectual biography of Stalin told through his personal library. In this engaging life of the twentieth century's most self-consciously learned dictator, Geoffrey Roberts explores the books Stalin read, how he read them, and what they taught him. Stalin firmly believed in the transformative potential of words and his voracious appetite for reading guided him throughout his years. A biography as well as an intellectual portrait, this book explores all aspects of Stalin's tumultuous life and politics. Stalin, an avid reader from an early age, amassed a surprisingly diverse personal collection of thousands of books, many of which he marked and annotated revealing his intimate thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Based on his wide-ranging research in Russian archives, Roberts tells the story of the creation, fragmentation, and resurrection of Stalin's personal library. As a true believer in communist ideology, Stalin was a fanatical idealist who hated his enemies-the bourgeoisie, kulaks, capitalists, imperialists, reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries, traitors-but detested their ideas even more

Target audience

adult

Transposition and arrangement

not applicable

Classification