Book Review of Stain: The Man and His Era

This is a book that is very heavy on the details of Stalin's era in Russia, which makes it somewhat difficult to read. Ulam does, however, manage to bring the main argument that the Stalin era has never really ended to the forefront by examining the contemporary events in Russia.

This brings an interesting aspect to the overall feeling of the book, rescuing it from the doldrums of excessive details. Studying Stalin is an irresistible task for many. Although he may not be quite as well known as Hitler, the events of his regime are just as horrifying and deserve as much attention as that of the Third Reich under Hitler.

Ulnm begins the book on an interesting tone with the death of Stalin, himself This is an unusual way to begin a biography, although this book certainly goes beyond the boundaries of a traditional biography in detail and in the contemporary ramifications of the subject's era. However, I believe this is an appropriate way to begin this very sort of biography in a contemporary and objective sense. By beginning with the death of the subject in this case, Stalin, Ulam can then easily make the connection with the contemporary impact Stalin's era has had and is having on the Russian people. Even after De-Stalinization, remnants of his regime still remained in Communist Russia. With the addition of the expanded index written thirty-six years after Stalin's death to this book, Ulam is able to demonstrate the lingering affects of Stalin's regime on Gorbachev's administration.

Each antecedent regime have been unsuccessful in completely removing Stalinization elements from Russian society. In fact, De-Stalinization was halted in a period of stagnation,'' under Brezhnev's reign, before Gorbachev resumed it. It is clear that Stalin's influences have extended well beyond his grave, as fanatical remnants left over from his era have only continued preservation in some form or another over the last few decades since his death.

It was only under Gorbachev's regime where the atrocities of Stalin have been formally acknowledged and directly addressed. An attack on and criticism of Stalin's influence has reached new heights in the Gorbachev era. So attempts to eliminate those influences have also been increased dramatically through programs such as perestroika and glasnost. Totalitarianism is still very evident within Russia's governmental structures, and an effort is underway to remove them.

The historical perspective used by Ulam is derived largely from memoirs and narratives which serve their purpose in portraying a man of terror who is finally being uncovered and revealed to Russia as such, a horrible and tyrannical dictator. The historical facts speak for themselves in this regard, Ulam presents them from legitimate sources. The idea that Stalin was able to rule was due largely to his ingenious use of terror to get what he wanted and shield the sheer preposterousness of his regime from the people. It is unavoidable but to conclude after reading this book the level of terror utilized by Stalin himself to intimidate others to follow him to wherever direction he wanted to take the country, for his own personal and political gains. Indeed, no man before or since was able to use tenor more effectively in ruling a country and bringing it to superpower status, with the exception of Genghis Khan, than Joseph Stalin.

Ulam shows that from his beginnings under Lenin as the General Secretary of the Party, a position no one wanted, including his archenemy Leon Trotsky, Stalin demonstrated his power hungry appetites and exercised them to his advantage. (The first of which was eliminating all those that opposed the Communist Party, and then even those who were within the party, but whose ideas of achieving the goals for the party conflicted with that of Stalin's were also eliminated, To compare Stalin to another historical figure in Hitler would not do justice to what Stalin did to his own people.

Through the implementation of his economic policies, and programs, including the five-year plans, and the Great Purges, Stalin was largely successful in attaining the goals he had set for the country in the early years of his dictatorship. He also was successful in convincing the Russian people that their lives had improved, when in fact their personal liberties and even their lives were put into jeopardy by his policies. Ulam's portrayal of the historical facts clearly show Stalin's reign of terror were quite affective in achieving his goals and ruling with falser support from the populace.

Stalin's influence extended beyond Russia, as foreign Communists could not feel safe from his grasp. Ulam says the Great Purge was a period that encouraged great loyalty to Stalin among all Communists, but more because of faith rather than fear. An irrational appeal of tyranny contributed to this persistent faith placed by Communists in Stalin and justified the murders committed in the name of maintaining loyalty. The NKVD was largely responsible for carrying out these purges, and adhered to Stalin's commands without question. Even his warning that even those appearing most loyal are usually the best spies was taken literally by the NKVD, and henceforth eliminated. This organization's influence was believed to be capable of stretching to wherever Communists presided in the world, and so loyalty was maintained, all because of Stalin's persistent paranoia.

The Party had been created in such a way that it could be accurately described as a cult. This was a major factor that allowed Stalin to achieve the level of power that he did. His personality, which was crude, ruthless, paranoid, and determined are all factors commonly inherent in rulers such as Stalin and allow such a person to assume power and maintain it by using the various elements of the system he inherited. The Marxist dogma of this cult, the Communist Party, became life to them, and that is the reason Stalin, a young Georgian with apparently minor and peculiar characteristics, was able to become one the most absolute and ruthless of all rulers in modem history. Stalin became god-like to the Communists, and he was not questioned for fear of death, quite simply put.

Ulam writes this book in a manner that leads one to believe that he is an expert in Russian History, which indeed he is judging by the numerous other books he has written relating to this very subject over the years. He effectively uses his sources, and documents them using footnotes further legitimizing his historical facts and arguments presented throughout the book. This expanded edition allows a contemporary reader to see that elements of Stalinism exist even today in countries such as China and still exists in Russia.

In the scope of the book, Ulam analyzes past events as far back as he deems necessary to provide us with the background information needed to understand the political and social aspects and conditions that allowed Stalin to become what he became and also maintain that power. The expanded edition takes the scope all the way to present times to show how De-Stalinization has been a very slow and interruptible process and continues to struggle with the lingering elements of totalitarian government established by Stalin.

The continuing influence of Stalinism in Russia as well as other parts of the world is the purpose of Ulam's writing, which gives great significance to the Study of Stalin and his impact on modem history. Understanding this is very important to Ulam, who presents and backs this up in his writing of this book in a clear manner. Being the director of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University leads one to believe that perhaps Ulam is biased in presenting the significance of Stalin's impact on world history as one of the most important. However, it is difficult to argue against this point of view, since his ideas are still very prevalent in totalitarian and other modes of political thought in our current society. Terror, especially in light of the events of this past September 11, seems to be a persistently popular device utilized in making a statement, demonstrating one's power or an opponent's weakness. Just as Stalin used it against everyone to maintain his position as god to all Communists, today too theorists utilize their opponent's fears to establish their own agendas of power.

Concerning organization of Ulam's text, it is generally chronological with the exception of the introduction, which begins with Stalin's death and connects his philosophy with contemporary Russia. The appropriateness of this organization is justices however for it is necessary to establish Ulam's thesis of the continuing presence of Stalinism in Russia today.

As the book progresses, the writing style becomes somewhat more readable as it becomes more clear, coherent, and smooth, after recovering from the initial wordiness of the text. For example, comparisons to Hitler and Napoleon give a vivid jolt to the imagination when Ulam talks of World War II and Stalin's involvement. However, the text is difficult to follow when Ulam is establishing Stalin's early years and his background, which tends to drag on in a not so entertaining and imaginative manner.

Perhaps this is partly because of the numerous aliases used by Stalin and in the text in his early years, mixed with other names and facts that tend to confuse the reader. These background facts are important to understanding Stalin's development, and the confusion only serves to lessen the significance of this and the impact Stalin's early personality characteristics has on events in the rest of the story.

A lack of supplemental aides also contributes to a wordy sort of text presented by Ulam, or at least the initial perception of such. When the reader is given all these facts early in the book, interest in the material declines, and the coherence of the following text would definitely benefit from visual aides to re-stimulate interest in the material. Pictures from Stalin's childhood, or even statistical charts of the Party's influences would have been helpful and added spice to the overall text. Although the contemporary connection with Russia of today is a significant benefit for the reader, it could be further elaborated upon by the use of maps or other aides to increase further interest in the topic, despite the fact the story of Stalin is already a pretty fascinating one.

As for documentation, although it relies on memoirs and narratives fairly heavily, as many significant historical events do, these contribute to the legitimacy of Ulam's perspective of Stalin and his regime in his time and ours. The text avoids reliance on collections of other secondary sources, also adding to its significance as an accurate and profound biography of Joseph Stalin. Ulam establishes himself as an independent thinker, yet somehow objective, albeit a difficult cast to undertake when talking about a man such as Stalin.

What I was able to learn from this book that l can most easily point to is the extent of Stalin's continuing influence on Russia, which is something l was definitely not aware of Although l had heard of the many atrocities that were committed under Stalin, l never realized the extent that Stalin was directly involved in those decisions to exterminate millions of his own people and how ruthless he actually was in carrying out his policies. I did not understand how such a man could have risen to power until I read of the conditions in Russia and the situation that Stalin was able to take advantage of using sheer terror as his source of power. Although I admit it was a difficult read initially, I would suggest anyone interested in reading about Stalin to take a look at this book.

In comparison to other sources I have seen about Stalin, this has gone beyond those traditional biographies of his life and delved into the who, what, when, where, and why Stalin was able to come to power and establish a regime that would have everlasting affects on Russia and the rest of the world decades after his death, and despite measures to eliminate those elements left over from Stalinism. Although most other books and alms all portray Stalin as a temple dictator who murdered millions, not many of them can put that in perspective and not allow it to cloud the significance of its impact on world history. The interrelation of Stalin by Ulam is one that concentrates on terror as the vehicle, which Stalin utilized in order to accomplish his goals and can out his agendas. This differs from other interpretations that oversimplify Stalin's role in world history as an insane dictator who simply slaughtered millions of Russians out of spite, and that his methods do not persist in today's society, when in fact they persist more than ever.

In conclusion, we need not look any further than the events of 11 September 2001 as evidence of that. Totalitarianism is now largely based on Stalinist principles of terror, and a Communist government of today, such as China, or any other Totalitarian or terrorist organizations are not immune from this reality. Therefore, Stalinism is still a reality and will continue to be in the foreseeable future, until this ideology of fanaticism is confronted and wiped out. This is the significance and uniqueness of Ulam's book, and that important lesson must be learned.