The Mind of Stalin: A Psychoanalytic Study

by Daniel Rancour-Laferriere

Book by Rancour-Laferriere, Daniel

Genres: Psychology

161 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1988

Reviews

[Eric Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly interesting book. In just 143 pages (including extensive footnotes), the author examines many aspects of the Soviet dictator’s life through the prism of Freudian psychoanalysis. And many of his conclusions are quite interesting. Some of it is quirky: Stalin’s seeming obsession with boots (he wore no other footware) and kicking, keeping in mind that his father, who beat him regularly, was a cobbler. Some of it is a bit outdated (I hope): linking Stalin’s obvious paranoia with the possibility that he was a homosexual. (The author seems to be saying that all paranoids are gay, but it’s not clear if all gays are paranoid.). And some of it relates to what I am working on these days, finding a psychological basis for the possibility that Stalin as a young man may have worked as a secret agent of the tsarist police, the Okhrana. Recommended.

[Kateryna Martynenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хороша книга, яка дає дуже глибокий аналіз особистості і характеру Сталіна, причин його формування, передумови виникнення його психічних проблем. Добре показаний зв'язок між психікою Сталіна і його діяннями на чолі СССР. В книзі багато цікавих фактів із біографії та дитинства Сталіна. Після цієї книги захотілося продовжити читання на цю ж тему, бо інформації все ж малувато для такої широкої теми.