Stalin : revolutionary in an era of war

In his new account of the former Soviet leader, Kevin McDermott argues that Josef Stalin was an obsessive, motivated by the perceived threat of 'backward' social classes and saboteurs, and not just by power lust or inherent evil.

Containing recently declassified documents from the former Communist Party archive in Moscow, the book criticises the view that Stalin's murderous nature was driven by a single, power-hungry need to remove his political rivals and gain autocracy.

It points instead to the leader's militant desire to cleanse the USSR of perceived 'enemies', based on his Marxist revolutionary beliefs.

The result is engaging look at the dictator and a critical review of western and Russian historiography.