Ryan James, Grant Susan (eds.) Revisioning Stalin and Stalinism: Complexities, Contradictions, and Controversies

Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. — 264 p.This thought-provoking collection of essays analyses the complex, multi-faceted, and even contradictory nature of Stalinism and its representations.Stalinism was an extraordinarily repressive and violent political model, and yet it was led by ideologues committed to a vision of socialism and international harmony. The essays in this volume stress the complex, multi-faceted, and often contradictory nature of Stalin, Stalinism, and Stalinist-style leadership, and. explore the complex picture that emerges. Broadly speaking, three important areas of debate are examined, united by a focus on political leadership:- The key controversies surrounding Stalin's leadership role
- A reconsideration of Stalin and the Cold War
- New perspectives on the cult of personalityRevisioning Stalin and Stalinism is a crucial volume for all students and scholars of Stalin's Russia and Cold War Europe.James Ryan is Senior Lecturer in Modern European (Russian) History at Cardiff University, UK. He is the author of Lenin's Terror: The Ideological Origins of Early Soviet State Violence (2012), and his articles have appeared in journals such as Slavic Review, Europe-Asia Studies, and Historical Research.
Susan Grant is Reader in Modern European History at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. She is the author of Physical Culture and Sport in Soviet Society (2013), and articles in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Medical History, and Revolutionary Russia.