May 2012, 264 pages
After HITLER and PATTON, here is the third volume of the «Masters of War» series which offers a portrait of Joseph Stalin, a biography that concentrates on his role as a war leader, presented with abundant illustrations.
In this original work, concentrating exclusively upon Stalin’s strategy and his role during the Second World War, François Kersaudy traces the very rudimentary military training of the conspirator and revolutionary who became the dictator Stalin, leading to his ascension as Vierkhovny, the supreme chief of the Red Army. Based upon contemporary accounts, photos, maps and documents of the era, the author takes us to the heart of the Soviet war machine and demonstrates how remarkable powers of organization, memory, and intelligence coupled with a devastating capacity to intimidate and the collaboration of a few extraordinarily talented career officers of the military transformed an amateur into, not just a war marshal, but one who led his troops to victory.
François Kersaudy is well known as an uncontested specialist on the Second World War, author of DE GAULLE ET CHURCHILL, DE GAULLE ET ROOSEVELT, and L’AFFAIRE CICÉRON. A talented biographer, his works on Churchill and Goering have been widely critically acclaimed. His HITLER, part of the « Maîtres de Guerre » series, is being translated into Chinese and Czech.
