Stalin: A Biography is a biography of Joseph Stalin written by Robert Service. It was published in 2004.Stalin: A Biography, by Robert Service, Harvard University Press (without date).
For his research, Service traveled to Abkhazia, where Stalin's dacha was located during the 1930s in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist Era after the end of the Leninist Era.Jürgen Zarusky: Neuerscheinungen zu Stalin, sehepunkte.de (2006).
The book describes Stalin's life, covering in detail his youth (1878-1923), rise to power (1924-1927/1930), and rule (1927-1953). According to the publisher, it uses a personal style that "humanizes Stalin without ever diminishing the extent of the atrocities he unleashed upon the Soviet population."
Critical reception Stalin: A Biography has been criticized by historians including Gerald Meyer, claiming Service flattened Stalin’s character into that of a "power-mad psychopath.”
See also Anti-Stalinist Left Criticism of Marxism-Leninism Hoover Institution Lenin: A Biography Trotsky: A Biography The Stalinist Legacy Stalinism
Notes
External links Review by Angus MacQueen Review by Fred Williams Presentation by Service on Stalin: A Biography, April 29, 2005, C-SPAN