The Time of Stalin--Portrait of a Tyranny

By Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko

Book Overview

Time Of Stalin, The: Portrait Of A Tyranny by Antonov-Ovseyenko, Anton This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060101482
• ISBN13: 9780060101480
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 384 Pages

Customer Reviews

First-hand Look

Incredibly passionate and insightful from a man who was personally touched by the action of Stalin. Oftentimes, almost sarcastic, the stories are very disturbing and told as if Antonov-Ovseyenko was a fly on the wall. A very different perspective from other Stalin texts.

Stalin - A Cruel Despot.

There is no one better qualified than Anton Antonov - Ovseyenko to write an accurate account of life in the Soviet Union under ther rulership of Josef Stalin. His father, Vladimir Antonov - Ovseyenko led the Bolshevick storming of the Winter Palace in 1917 and became a famous Soviet military leader, politician and diplomat before being slain on Stalin's orders during a purge in the late thirties. This was, we discover as we read more and more of the life of Stalin, was a typical response from the man they called the Gensek. Anyone who posed a threat to Stalin (real or imagined) had to be done away with. Anyone who was successful, popular, intelligent had to go. Those who eagerly did the Gensek's bidding in order to curry favour with him, didn't realise that they too would be removed in time, they were afterall, witnesses who could come back to haunt Stalin with their knowledge. Stalin himself is portrayed as a man without any redeeming features. He was born illegitimate and was a step son of a shoe maker who ran his own factory and employed about 40 people - it was not the impoverished background that Stalin had people believe. He hated his step father who beat him frequently, and he had no respect for his mother (or any woman there after) who he blamed for bearing him out of wedlock. It is impossible to know how many people Stalin had killed but the figures would be many millions - probably more than Hitler in Nazi Germany. His purges were methodical, to say the least. He targetted all the army hierarchy which in effect left the USSR without any leadership during WW2, he hated academics and thousands were imprisoned, left to die. Frequently he wiped out whole families, fearing retaliation, and he was very adept at laying the blame for these assassinations at the feet of those who were, afterall only carrying out his orders. He presented himself to his people as a kindly, affable man not the cruel monster he had become. There seemed no rhyme or reason behind his purges, people who had been loyal hard working communists all thier lives found themselves having to answer charges of disloyalty,treachery etc. There was no escape. Either long prison terms, people tortured and forced to sign trumped up charges,then executions, followed by a similar fate to other equally innocent family members. Another ploy used to impoverish his people was to export all the grain produced, leaving nothing for the Russians themselves. Those who attempted to hide grain in order to survive were hunted down and executed. It is impossible to understand the mind of one who deliberately causes a famine in his own country. His hated for women knew no bounds. Stalin was married twice and treated both his wives worse than if they were animals, raping,beating and kicking rhem whenever the urge took him. When making his first trip home to Georgia (in the USSR) for many years he was met at the station by his mother and a group of other locals, all delighted to see thei

Fascinating account of the life of Stalin

This book was written by a man who suffered unspeakable crimes under Stalin's reign of Communist terror. His insights and often ironic humor are insightful and very interesting. A must-read for those interested in Russian history and the history of Communism and how it affected (and still affects) those in its grip.