The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939 (Annals of Communism Series) [Hardcover]

Mr. J. Arch Getty (Author), Oleg V. Naumov (Author), Mr. Benjamin Sher (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0300077726 | ISBN-13: 978-0300077728 | Edition: 1ST

This gripping book assembles and translates into English for the first time top secret Soviet documents from 1932 to 1939, the era of Stalin's purges. The nearly 200 documents -- dossiers, police reports, private letters, secret transcripts, and more -- expose the hidden inner workings of the Communist Party and the dark inhumanity of the purge process.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This documentary collection, continuing Yale's pioneering Annals of Communism series, tackles questions surrounding the paroxysm of the purges in 1937^-38. One thing Stalin had was a long memory, and the hitherto mysterious Riutin Platform (the contents here at last seeing the light) must have rankled him. The platform was a 1932 call by Bolshevik veterans to remove him. The course culminating in the extirpation of all opposition was complex, and the authors' commentary underscores that a politics of sorts continued up to the point when full-blown terror was unleashed, a politics that pitted the central apparatus of Stalin and his associates in Moscow against the regional party bosses. The authors track one such Stalinist's fate in detail, as they do that of Bukharin, Stalin's opponent in the 1920s. The 200 documents here will astonish anyone familiar with the era, yet it is a specialized tome whose public library appeal could be checked against the circulation stats for the indubitably popular Who Killed Kirov? by Amy Knight. IGilbert Taylor

Review

This volume contains some fascinating archival texts, especially Politburo material setting purge victim quotas for cities, towns and villages to be fulfilled by the NKVD (the secret police). There are 199 documents reprinted from declassified Soviet archives. They are utterly frightful to read. -- Arnold Beichman, Washington Times

[Getty and Naumov] provide commentary on hundreds of top-secret Soviet documents from the 1930s -- Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1ST edition (August 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300077726
• ISBN-13: 978-0300077728
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,664,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gives an exceptionally valuable insight into Stalin's purges, July 11, 2000

By 

David Ljunggren (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939 (Annals of Communism Series) (Hardcover)

This book is tremendously useful because it gives a hitherto unknown insight into exactly how Stalin and his closest cronies set in motion the purges of the 1930s. The heart of the book consists of around 200 secret Communist Party documents interspersed with commentary from the authors. The archival material suggests very strongly that the path to the terror was not planned meticulously from the start but consisted of a series of false starts and zigzags until Stalin decided in 1937 to crush all resistance to the party's rule. Of particular interest are a couple of documents which show how many members of the inner Politburo demanded stricter punishments for alleged wrong-doers than Stalin did himself. Barring the discovery of Stalin's diary many of the dictator's motives will remain unknown forever but the documents in this book do paint a largely convincing portrait of an unpopular regime in Moscow lurching from crisis to crisis, trying both to stablise the internal situation and also to eliminate the possibility of serious internal resistance. What does come through very clearly is how arbitrary the terror was and how many of those charged with repressing alleged foreign spies and saboteurs were almost guaranteed to be shot themselves. First the Politburo lashed out at the secret police for not doing enough to stamp out centres of Trotskyite resistance and then issued orders demanding the execution and arrest of millions of people across the country. Later the secret police came under fire for allegedly indulging in indiscriminate terror and repressing too many people. I can understand the point of the Kirkus Reviews contributor who doubted the authors' explanation that the Politburo pushed ahead with the purges because they were indeed convinced enemies lay behind every corner and a coup was always possible. A sense of self-preservation and the need to show Stalin they were onside surely did partly explain their enthusiasm for spilling blood. But this is a minor quibble about an otherwise excellent book.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Road to Terror : Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the, March 31, 2000

By 

Daniel Klionsky (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939 (Annals of Communism Series) (Hardcover)

I liked the book because it is the first time I was able to read the Kremlin archives. Being a Russian origin, I would rather read this book in Russian. But I could not. Yes, it is said that archives are open in Russia now, however when I asked my parents to look for this book in St-Petersburg, Russia they were not able to find it and the booksellers never heard about this title. I liked how documents are organized in the book by years and by relevance to the events. The book is logical with the interesting comments by the authors that fill gaps created by the dry language of the protocols and memos. This book helped me understand the motives and evolution of Stalin. It is based on facts and you can not argue with them. If you are looking for the answers like me this book is definitely worth reading However, I think you need to be familiar with a subject.

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, March 11, 2003

By 

Kaban Pizdets (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939 (Paperback)

Dr Getty's study of the Terror is among the most groundbreaking and insightful of the last decade. I believe it is the best book on the Terror yet written. What began as a moderate attempt to clean up the Party in 1933 through controled means turned into violent chaos in mid-1937. The Yezhov years are covered deeply with a great reliance on archives avalible. For the first time the documents themselves can be viewed by the reader. Getty clearly defines the periods of the Terror according to their severity. In 1933 people were purged from the Party but it only ment dismissal and a chance for readdmition. In 1936 things began to get bloody but it was still controled by the elites. The explosion of 1937 with the liquidation of top Soviet Marshals signaled the coming of a full blown bloodbath. This period lasted from the last half of 1937 to the first half of 1938. This was largely directed by the NKVD under Yezhov but Getty stresses Yezhov was ordered by Stalin and the Politburo to conduct arrest and executions of party elites in both the Center and provinces along with mass shootings of social marginals. The Terror was horrible yet more conservative numbers of deaths are given. Elites were the primary victims. Getty's statistics appear to be correct. Millions were not executed but social trama of the Terror was horrid. This work shreds Robert Conquest to pieces...