
Stalin, Volume II
Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941
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Narrated by:
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Paul Hecht
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By:
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Stephen Kotkin
About this listen
Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Kotkin continues his definitive biography of Stalin, from collectivization and the Great Terror through to the coming of the conflict with Hitler's Germany that is the signal event of modern world history.
When we left Stalin at the end of Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928, it was 1928, and he had finally climbed the mountaintop and achieved dictatorial power of the Soviet empire. The vastest peasant economy in the world would be transformed into socialist modernity, whatever it took. What it took, or what Stalin believed it took, was the most relentless campaign of shock industrialization the world has ever seen.
This is the story of the five-year plans, the new factory towns, and the integration of an entire system of penal labor into the larger economy. With the Great Depression throwing global capital into crisis, the Soviet Union's New Man looked like nothing so much as the man of the future. As the shadows of the '30's deepen, Stalin's drive to militarize Soviet society takes on increasing urgency, and the ambition of Nazi Germany becomes the predominant geopolitical reality he faces when Hitler claims that communism is a global "Judeo-Bolshevik" conspiracy to bring the Slavic race to power.
But just because they're out to get you doesn't mean you're not paranoid. Stalin's paranoia is increasingly one of the most horrible facts of life for his entire country. Stalin's obsessions drive him to violently purge almost a million people, including military leadership, diplomatic corps, and intelligence apparatus, to say nothing of a generation of artistic talent. And then came the pact that shocked the world and demoralized leftists everywhere: Stalin's pact with Hitler in 1939, the carve-up of Poland, and Stalin's utter inability to see Hitler's buildup to the invasion of the USSR.
Yet for all that, in just 12 years of total power, Stalin has taken this country from a peasant economy to a formidable modern war machine that rivaled anything else in the world. When the invasion came, Stalin wasn't ready, but his country would prove to be prepared. That is a dimension of the Stalin story that has never adequately been reckoned with before, and it looms large here. Stalin: Waiting for Hitler: 1929-1941 is, like its predecessor, nothing less than a history of the world from Stalin's desk. It is also, like its predecessor, a landmark achievement in the annals of its field and in the biographer's art.
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- The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader
- By: Roger Manvell, Heinrich Fraenkel
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In Goering, Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel use firsthand testimonies and a variety of historical documents to tell the story of a monster lurking in Hitler's shadows. After rising through the ranks of the German army, Hermann Goering became Hitler's right hand man and was hand-picked to head the Luftwaffe, one of history's most feared fighting forces. As he rose in power, though, Goering became disillusioned and was eventually shunned from Hitler's inner circle.
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From Fighter Pilot Ace to Cartoon Villain
- By aaron on 03-27-21
By: Roger Manvell, and others
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Stalin
- The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives
- By: Edvard Radzinsky
- Narrated by: David McCallum
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Abridged
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The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
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A Great Book About a Great Tyrant
- By Moon Man on 05-01-05
By: Edvard Radzinsky
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The Russian Revolution
- By: Sheila Fitzpatrick
- Narrated by: Steve Fortune
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The Russian Revolution had a decisive impact on the history of the 20th century. In the years following the collapse of the Soviet regime and the opening of its archives, it has become possible to step back and see the full picture. Starting with an overview of the roots of the revolution, Fitzpatrick takes the story from 1917, through Stalin's "revolution from above", to the great purges of the 1930s.
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Reads like an in closet communist author
- By Dmitry on 02-28-25
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Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
- By: Ezra F. Vogel
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 33 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Once described by Mao Zedong as a "needle inside a ball of cotton", Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China's radical transformation in the late 20th century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao's cult of personality, and loosened the policies that had stunted China's growth. Obsessed with modernization, Deng opened trade relations with the West, which lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. Yet he also answered to his authoritarian roots, most notably when he ordered the crackdown in 1989 at Tiananmen Square.
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Another butcher of the Chinese language
- By Jack Hanson on 09-19-21
By: Ezra F. Vogel
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The Fall of Berlin 1945
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc - tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
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Engrossing
- By Salui on 09-06-16
By: Antony Beevor
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Stalin
- The Court of the Red Tsar
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
- Length: 27 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In a seamless meshing of exhaustive research, brilliant synthesis and narrative élan, Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the life and lives of Stalin’s court from the time of his acclamation as “leader” in 1929, five years after Lenin’s death, until his own death in 1953 at the age of 73. Through the lens of personality - Stalin’s as well as those of his most notorious henchmen, Molotov, Beria and Yezhov among them - the author sheds new light on the oligarchy that attempted to create a new world by exterminating the old.
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Stalinist Tyranny
- By Kindle Customer on 12-28-19
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Hitler
- Downfall: 1939-1945
- By: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 29 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 comes a riveting account of the dictator's final years, when he got the war he wanted but his leadership led to catastrophe for his nation, the world, and himself. Volker Ullrich offers fascinating new insight into Hitler's character and personality, vividly portraying the insecurity, obsession with minutiae, and narcissistic penchant for gambling that led Hitler to overrule his subordinates and then blame them for his failures.
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Had to return because of narration
- By Thomas C on 03-26-21
By: Volker Ullrich, and others
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Julius Caesar
- By: Philip Freeman
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 2,000 years after his death, Julius Caesar remains one of the great figures of history. He shaped Rome for generations, and his name became a synonym for "emperor" - not only in Rome but as far away as Germany and Russia. He is best known as the general who defeated the Gauls and doubled the size of Rome's territories. But, as Philip Freeman describes in this fascinating new biography, Caesar was also a brilliant orator, an accomplished writer, a skilled politician, and much more.
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Not very good...
- By FarleyFarley on 10-22-19
By: Philip Freeman
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Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
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Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
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Diplomacy
- By: Henry Kissinger
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 37 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Moving from a sweeping overview of history to blow-by-blow accounts of his negotiations with world leaders, Henry Kissinger describes how the art of diplomacy has created the world in which we live, and how America's approach to foreign affairs has always differed vastly from that of other nations. Brilliant, controversial, and profoundly incisive, Diplomacy stands as the culmination of a lifetime of diplomatic service and scholarship. It is a must-listen for anyone concerned with the forces that have shaped our world today and will impact upon it tomorrow.
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Great foreign policy overview!
- By Mikhail on 02-02-20
By: Henry Kissinger
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The Cultural Revolution
- A People's History, 1962—1976
- By: Frank Dikötter
- Narrated by: Daniel York Loh
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 and 1962, an ageing Mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. But the Chairman also used the Cultural Revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longstanding comrades-in-arms, subjecting them to public humiliation, imprisonment and torture.
By: Frank Dikötter
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The End
- The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II. Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did.
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Engrossing yet horrifying
- By Liz on 10-14-11
By: Ian Kershaw
What listeners say about Stalin, Volume II
Highly rated for:
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- Prashant Chatterjee
- 07-27-19
Best biography of Stalin I have read...
And I have read many. Kotkin’s grounding in the political environment rather than in obscure personal episodes is refreshing and interesting. Very detailed but woven within a coherent story. A pleasure to read/ hear. Eagerly waiting for Volume 3
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- Frank
- 06-14-23
Brilliant and excellent narrative, realistic and consistent book work for.Dr. Kotkin he is a great historian.
I will recommend this book to be read for all people in government and in foreign relations, history always coming back in totalitarian systems. Look at Europe in middle of the Russian invasion to Ukrainian, shameful and criminal. Now we are waiting for the Stalin Volume III.
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- Boo McCoo
- 06-15-23
great
I love this book and narration. it’s perfect in every way; nothing more to say.
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- History For History’s Sake
- 06-29-18
A Brilliant Biography of Stalin & the Soviet Regime
This is an utterly brilliant, even handed and well written biography of the late despot. Though you could also call it a comprehensive biography of the Soviet regime as well from 1929 - 1941. This is definitely not for those new to the subject, as it requires a lot of background knowledge. Yet for those in the know, it is stuffed full of both political and personal knowledge of Stalin that had never been brought to light prior. I wait patiently for volume three.
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- Brian Ankney
- 11-20-22
great listen
This is a great look into socialism leading to communism and what's next with Stalin.
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- Arya Pourtabatabaie
- 06-07-21
Sub-amateur narration
The narrator is horribly unprofessional and his constantly tripping over the fact that he is seeing the current passage for the first time can be distracting. Kotkin writes long chains of phrases to a fault and very few of them don't disorient Hecht mid sentence.
In the end though the book is good enough for the narration to still be tolerable at x1.10.
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- S. Walker
- 09-06-22
Brilliant
Massively erudite. Well researched, magisterial. I felt like I was in Satlin's clique attempting to anticipate Hitler and Churchill.
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- Joseph
- 04-07-20
Part 2 of an impartial biography of Joseph Stalin
Stephen Kotkin is the World's Premier scholar of the Soviet despot known to history as Joseph Stalin. Part 2 or 3 of this biography, Stalin, Waiting for Hitler is hard to describe accurately without cliche. This series will serve mankind as the baseline on Joseph Stalin.
Biographies, especially when they are concerned with controversial figures are necessarily impregnated with bias. Naturally it takes a minimum of several works by different authors, from different regions, generations with different sympathies. Kotkin's work offers us a unique and considering our subject an unprecedented achievement. Truly Kotkin is scholar, a historian par excellence. His works stand alone as they have none of odor of political science that taints objectivity. His works can be read without supplemental texts as they need not be balanced by an opposing ideological bias so often necessary when discussing the late Soviet Union.
You can form a good understanding of the world's ultimate despot with this complete biography. Kotkin is able to avoid being overly long-winded and sterile, this work comes across as Grand rather than extensive. The innumerable facts that give this history it's bleak atmosphere can benumb the most patient student.
Fortunately for his readers, Stephen Kotkin has the Muse within. This is a enjoyable study, with an air of expectation and excitement without dreary sections one would rather glance over than examine in detail.
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- Max Hydrogen
- 03-31-23
Kotkin uses the word "cuckhold" a lot,,,
Paul Hecht is an iron work horse: I wonder how long it takes to record such a book? How many times must he re-do a line etc. He scares me when he reads the line: "Stalin ignored the request" (or something to that effect) when referring to a letter Bukharin sent Stalin.
Kotkin focuses more on Stalin in this volume than the first one but other than criticizing other biographies, doesn't really add anything that would help to further understand Stalin's unparalleled evil.
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- Jim hines
- 12-06-23
Excellent work. Worth every dime.
I really love the new information that I was never taught in college. What is also interesting is the items that were left out. Looks like the crap I was fed really was wrong.
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