A spellbinding new biography of Stalin in his formative years
This is the definitive biography of Joseph Stalin from his birth to the October Revolution of 1917, a panoramic and often chilling account of how an impoverished, idealistic youth from the provinces of tsarist Russia was transformed into a cunning and fearsome outlaw who would one day become one of the twentieth century's most ruthless dictators.
In this monumental book, Ronald Grigor Suny sheds light on the least understood years of Stalin's career, bringing to life the turbulent world in which he lived and the extraordinary historical events that shaped him. Suny draws on a wealth of new archival evidence from Stalin's early years in the Caucasus to chart the psychological metamorphosis of the young Stalin, taking readers from his boyhood as a Georgian nationalist and romantic poet, through his harsh years of schooling, to his commitment to violent engagement in the underground movement to topple the tsarist autocracy. Stalin emerges as an ambitious climber within the Bolshevik ranks, a resourceful leader of a small terrorist band, and a writer and thinker who was deeply engaged with some of the most incendiary debates of his time.
A landmark achievement, Stalin paints an unforgettable portrait of a driven young man who abandoned his religious faith to become a skilled political operative and a single-minded and ruthless rebel.
- Asian & Pacific American Heritage
- GRPL Staff Picks
- Artistic Reads
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- 2025 Libby Book Award Winners and Runners Up
- How Does Your Garden Grow?
- National Poetry Month
- 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution
- Celebrating Women
- Curl Up with a Cozy Read
- Our Favorite Sleuths
- Life-Changing Women
- Women's History Month
- See all ebooks collections
- Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage
- Mental Health Awareness
- Artistic Reads
- GRPL Staff Picks
- 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution
- 2025 Libby Book Award Winners and Runners Up
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- National Poetry Month
- How Does Your Garden Grow?
- She Persisted: Women's history
- Women's History Month
- Our Favorite Sleuths
- Curl Up with a Cozy Read
- See all audiobooks collections