Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were both responsible for the deaths of millions of people and for inflicting barbaric cruelty upon many more. Yet while Hitler is readily seen as evil incarnate, Stalin has, broadly speaking, never been subject to quite the same level of vitriol. Distinguished historian Abraham Ascher addresses this issue, and others, head-on in this introductory text. From Stalin’s days as a young Bolshevik idealist to the isolated, paranoid dictator of his final years, Ascher vigorously examines the sources, separating truths from falsehoods to present an unvarnished portrait of the Soviet dictator. For students of history and lay readers alike this is an ideal starting point, providing an incisive study of one of modern history’s most infamous figures.