The Last Days of Stalin

Joshua Rubenstein´s riveting account takes us back to the second half of 1952 when no one could foresee an end to Joseph Stalin´s murderous regime. He was poised to challenge the newly elected U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower with armed force, and was also broadening a vicious campaign against Soviet Jews. Stalin´s sudden collapse and death in March 1953 was as dramatic and mysterious as his life. It is no overstatement to say that his passing marked a major turning point in the twentieth century. The Last Days of Stalin is an engaging, briskly told account of the dictator´s final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, and the unfolding of Soviet and international events in the months after his death.