Inside the Stalin Archives: Discovering the New Russia

Description

From the first publisher granted access to Stalin's personal archive, a provocative and insightful portrait of modern Russia—the most compelling since David Remnick's Lenin's Tomb. To most Americans, Russia remains as enigmatic today as it was during the Iron Curtain era. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country had an opportunity to face its tortured past. In Inside the Stalin Archives, Jonathan Brent asks, why didn't this happen? Why are the anti-Semitic Protocols of Zion sold openly in the lobby of the State Duma? Why are archivists under surveillance and phones still tapped? Why does Stalin, a man responsible for the deaths of millions of his own people, remain popular enough to appear on boxes of chocolate sold in Moscow's airport? Brent draws on fifteen years of unprecedented access to high-level Soviet Archives to answer these questions. He shows us a Russia where, in 1992, used toothbrushes were sold on the sidewalks, while now shops are filled with luxury goods and the streets are jammed with Mercedes. Stalin's specter hovers throughout, and in the book's crescendo Brent takes us deep into the dictator's personal papers to glimpse the dark heart of the new Russia. Both cultural history and personal memoir, Inside the Stalin Archives is a deeply felt and vivid portrait of Russia in the twenty-first century. Contents January 1992 Mariana Into the Archive Mariana, Continued The Little Man Mariana, Continued Day Two in the Archive: The Only American Pikhoia Farewell In the Labyrinth Chapter 11. Turmoil, Misdirection, Fear Chapter 12. «Farewell, Dead Men Chapter 13. The Secret Death of Isaac Babel Chapter 14. Raoul Wallenber;g Chapter 15. Erofeev's Widow Chapter 16. Vsyo Norma/no Chapter 17. Vergil Chapter 18. Yezhov's Office Chapter 19. The Personal Archive of Josef Stalin Chapter 20. Stalin Chapter 21. Stalin's Hand Notes Acknowledgments