Hitler and Stalin by Alan Bullock- Group Read discussion
Reading Milestones
>
PART 1
date
newest »
newest »
Bird Brian wrote: "I'm just at the point this is being covered- around page 125! Yes- Lenin left two letters for his wife to deliver to the inner party, should he not recover from his stroke. Essentially, it is warning them about Stalin's accumulation of power."Oh, nice! I just haven't gotten to that point yet, but it's good to know I wasn't going crazy :). Can't underestimate those certain bureaucratic positions (or human hubris)!
I have to say that prior to reading this I just had general knowledge about Lenin. After reading the whole bit about Lenin near the end of his life, I actually sorta like the guy.
Bird Brian wrote: "Yes- the human drama is all here. The Inner (Communist) Party is like a Greek tragedy, right after the Revolution. "Oh, I like that! I wonder if anyone has created a play adaptation. :)
I am way behind all you guys! Just completed 2 chapters. I agree, Brian, that Stalin seems to be more organized than Hitler. And as Bullock mentions in Ch. 2, he was very compassionate towards his first wife. He was almost content at that point. I wonder how he would have turned out if his first wife had survived longer?
Bird Brian wrote: "I've read in other places that Stalin was widely regarded as stupid by others in Lenin's circle. He lacked university education, tended to see things dogmatically, and had no interest in intellectual pursuits which had no direct political payoff. Sure, anybody will admit that he was politically shrewd, sly, conniving, coldly calculating, Machiavellian..."
I don't know if Bullock mentions it in this book, but I had heard somewhere that while Lenin was on his deathbed he tried to warn other Bolshevik members about Stalin, and the amount of power he had managed to accumulate (even though Stalin was in many ways dismissed by the rest of the old guard).