The great terror
Subtitle: a reassessment
By: Robert Conquest.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1990
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 570
Subjects: Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953; Kommunisticheskai͡a︡ partii͡a︡ Sovetskogo Soi͡u︡za -- Purges; Terrorism -- Soviet Union; Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1936-1953
Description: The definitive work on Stalin's purges, the author's The Great Terror was universally acclaimed when it first appeared in 1968. It was "hailed as the only scrupulous, nonpartisan, and adequate book on the subject". And in recent years it has received equally high praise in the Soviet Union, where it is now considered the authority on the period, and has been serialized in Neva, one of their leading periodicals. Of course, when the author wrote the original volume two decades ago, he relied heavily on unofficial sources. Now, with the advent of glasnost, an avalanche of new material is available, and he has mined this enormous cache to write a substantially new edition of his classic work. It is remarkable how many of the most disturbing conclusions have born up under the light of fresh evidence. But the author has added enormously to the detail, including hitherto secret information on the three great "Moscow Trials," on the fate of the executed generals, on the methods of obtaining confessions, on the purge of writers and other members of the intelligentsia, on life in the labor camps, and many other key matters. Both a leading Sovietologist and a highly respected poet, the author blends research with prose, providing not only an authoritative account of Stalin's purges, but also a compelling chronicle of one of this century's most tragic events. A timely revision of a book long out of print, this is the updated version of the author's original work.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : the roots of terror -- Stalin prepares -- The Kirov murder -- Architect of terror -- Old Bolsheviks confess -- The problem of confession -- Last stand -- Assault on the army -- The party crushed -- Nations in torment -- On the cultural front -- In the labor camps -- The great trial -- The foreign element -- Climax -- Heritage of terror -- Epilogue : the terror today.