Moscow, 1937: the soviet metropolis at the zenith of Stalin's
dictatorship. A society utterly wrecked by a hurricane of
violence. style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #f7f3e7;" />
style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #f7f3e7;" />
In this compelling book, the renowned historian Karl Schlögel
reconstructs with meticulous care the process through which, month
by month, the terrorism of a state-of-emergency regime spiraled
into the 'Great Terror' during which 1 ½ million
human beings lost their lives within a single year. He revisits the
sites of show trials and executions and, by also consulting
numerous sources from the time, he provides a masterful panorama of
these key events in Russian history.style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #f7f3e7;" />
style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #f7f3e7;" />
He shows how, in the shadow of the reign of terror, the regime
around Stalin also aimed to construct a new society. Based on
countless documents, Schlögel's historical masterpiece
vividly presents an age in which the boundaries separating the
dream and the terror dissolve, and enables us to experience the
fear that was felt by people subjected to totalitarian rule. This
rich and absorbing account of the Soviet purges will be essential
reading for all students of Russia and for any readers interested
in one of the most dramatic and disturbing events of modern
history.