The magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding of Stalin and his world In
January 1928 Stalin the ruler of the largest country in the world boarded a train bound for
Siberia where he would embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He was about to
begin the largest programme of social reengineering ever attempted: the root-and-branch
uprooting and collectivization of agriculture and industry across the entire Soviet Union.
Millions would die and many more would suffer. How did Stalin get to this point? Where did
such great monstrous power come from? The first of three volumes the product of a decade of
scrupulous and intrepid research this landmark book offers the most convincing portrait and
explanation yet of Stalin's power and of Russian power in the world. The book is as much about
the Russia that Stalin inherits and reshapes as about the man himself. It gives a brilliantly
nuanced picture of the sequence of catastrophes that disposed of the social structures armies
rivals and close colleagues that should have stood in Stalin's way as he emerged from
obscurity to shoulder the terrifying responsibility of upholding Russian power in the world.
