Who Killed Kirov?: The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery

Description

An exciting analysis of Russia's crime of the century, the assassination of Stalin's greatest rival. The 1934 murder of the charismatic politician Sergei Kirov sparked Stalin's brutal purges, and speculation about it still fascinates the Russians. Who killed Kirov, and why? In Russia, conspiracy theories about Kirov have abounded, and scholars throughout the world have tackled various pieces of the story--but definitive evidence has eluded them. Now Amy Knight has combed the recently opened Russian archives to reconstruct this fascinating crime and analyze its effect on the Russian people. The result is at once an intriguing murder mystery and a major piece of scholarship that sheds new light on the terrors of Stalin. Contents 8 Into the Whirlwind 9 Stalin Consolidates Power: 1935-38 The Kirov Legacy Chronology of Key Events in the Life of Sergei Kirov Governing Hierarchy of the Soviet Union appendix Ill Selected Glossary of Names Notes Index