JOSEPH STALIN

Presented with undisguised condemnation and passion, the incredible story of Stalin's treacherous rise to power, moral degeneration, and miserable end. Otfinoski uses testimony from Khrushchev and other Soviet public figures, as well as from Western diplomats, to illuminate Stalin's methods and successes- -and their brutalizing effects on Soviet society. Particularly curious is the contrast between Stalin's vicious treatment of enemies, real and imagined, and his tender letters to his daughter. Though he quotes numerous secondary sources, Otfinoski attributes to Stalin thoughts and feelings that seem speculative, especially since he notes that Stalin erased the records of many details of his early life. Still, gripping. B&w photos; source notes; chronology; annotated bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)