The Great Terror: A ReassessmentThe definitive work on Stalin's purges, Robert Conquest's The Great Terror was universally acclaimed when it first appeared in 1968. Harrison Salisbury called it "brilliant...not only an odyssey of madness, tragedy, and sadism, but a work of scholarship and literary craftsmanship." And in recent years it has received equally high praise in the former Soviet Union, where it is now considered the definitive account of the period. When Conquest wrote the original volume, he relied heavily on unofficial sources. With the advent of glasnost, an avalanche of new material became available, and Conquest mined this enormous cache to write, in 1990, a substantially new edition of his classic work, adding enormously to the detail. Both a leading historian and a highly respected poet, Conquest blends profound research with evocative prose, providing not only an authoritative account of Stalin's purges, but also a compelling and eloquent chronicle of one of this century's most tragic events. He provides gripping accounts of everything from the three great "Moscow Trials," to methods of obtaining confessions, the purge of writers and other members of the intelligentsia, life in the labor camps, and many other key matters. On the fortieth anniversary of the first edition, in the light of further archival releases, and new material published in Moscow and elsewhere, it remains remarkable how many of Conquest's most disturbing conclusions have continued to bear up. This volume, featuring a new preface by Conquest, rounds out the picture of this huge historical tragedy, further establishing the book as the key study of one of the twentieth centurys most lethal, and longest-misunderstood, offenses against humanity. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - 4bonasa - LibraryThingA must read. This is not ot the first book on the early Soviet Union you should read. Told as a chronicle of events and the author assumed that the reader is familiar with the the people and their ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - HadriantheBlind - LibraryThingIt is completely incomprehensible to most of us how systematic the nature of evil under Stalin can be. Perhaps only North Korea today can compare for the quantity, the extremity, and the sheer ... Read full review
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accused activity already appeared Army arrested asked attack attempt became Bolshevik Bukharin called camp Central Committee charges Commander Commissar Communist confession Congress connection course court Crimes death December described effect enemies evidence example execution fact figures first force former gave German give given hand Head held History Ibid interrogation January June Khrushchev killed Kirov later leaders leadership leading least Lenin Leningrad London March Mensheviks method military months Moscow murder NKVD October officers official operation organization Party period plans Politburo political Pravda prisoners Purge Pyatakov question remained remarked reported result Russian Rykov Secret Secretary seems sent sentenced September shot Soviet speech Stalin taken terror thought told took Trial Trotsky Trotskyite true Union victims Vyshinsky whole wife Yagoda Yezhov York Zinoviev
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Great Terror: A Reassessment |
| Author | Robert Conquest |
| Edition | reprint, annotated |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0195316991, 9780195316995 |
| Length | 574 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Military / Revolutions & Wars of Independence History / Russia / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |