Stalin himself never publicly voiced suspicions about the authenticity of Lenin’s dictation. He could not escape the fact that Lenin’s dictation—however it was produced—comported with a widespread view of his own character. In other words, even if it was partly or wholly concocted, the dictation rang true. Stalin’s leadership, as we saw in the previous chapter, went a long way toward holding the whole sprawling regime together, but he could be malevolent and possessed too much power.
