Stalin: A Biography is structured with a complex system of parts, chapters, and subchapters. Five parts are broken down into 55 descriptive chapters, each one highlighting a different prominent event or idea in Joseph Stalin’s life. As expected from such a substantial number of chapters, this book presents a plethora of information regarding Joseph Stalin’s personal life and political career. The novel follows chronological order of his life as it journeys from his disturbed childhood to his death in 1953. The final chapter precedes a glossary, a lengthy notes section, a bibliography, and an index.
Book Content: Part One: The Revolutionary Part One introduces the reader to the damaging, destructive beginning that plagued Joseph Stalin’s youth. The detailed recounts of Joseph’s father beating his own wife recommends sympathy for the often scrutinized Soviet leader. Service declares that the grievances of many people opposed to Stalin stem from what the media portrays Stalin as, not how he truly was as a person; however, later in the book it is acknowledged that many of these distinctive character flaws were existing and accurate depictions of how Stalin ruled.
The beginning text is simply an unbiased narration of Stalin’s oppressed childhood, subjugated by his drunkard, abusive father. Part Two: Leader for the PartyPart Two is still in the first half of the book, therefore, its topic is still the first half of Stalin’s life. The chapters included in this section recite the stories of how political power came upon Joseph Stalin through an unlikely sequence of events. The turmoil and struggles that hindered his success at first were inevitable adversities associated with becoming a politician: living beneath the shadow of more well-known leaders, nexperience in regards to public speaking and rhetoric, and no political connections in his family. Becoming the eventual leader of the Soviet Union would seem to be an incredibly daunting and unlikely occurrence, but Robert Service analyzes exactly what Stalin accomplished that enabled him to achieve his eventual triumphs. Part Three: DespotThe Third Part covers a broad magnitude of historical facts surrounding Stalin’s leadership: these include many of the atrocities and crimes Stalin committed in an attempt to become more powerful. Stalin managed to somehow obtain both a negative and positive reputation globally.
He committed murder. He imprisoned innocent people. He stole land from farmers. He exiled anyone who opposed his authority. However, he also turned the country into one of the strongest industrial based territories in the world. He gave his people free education, free medicine. Everyone got a free living space. He granted sex and gender equality. This particular section of the book delves into whether or not Joseph Stalin consummated enough meager accommodations to his people to erase the heinous and harsh affairs from their memories: according to the author, he did.
Part Four: WarlordThis section reviews all the bloodshed and military encounters that occurred as a direct consequence of Joseph Stalin’s actions. The chapters paint him not as a villain fixed on the idea of having all other countries bow down to him, but rather as a ma willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the security of his nation. Furthermore, the writing in these sections conveniently omit Stalin’s biggest failures but flaunt his most infamous success with great applause: World War II.
Part Four has the most politically relevant information on Joseph Stalin, however Service provides no concession against the claim that Stalin only waged war for his own personal and political gain: this is a significant exclusion as it was previously claimed that the author would invalidate the idea of Stalin being a selfish man who deserved the animosity he received. Part Five: The Imperator Following the sequential order of the book, Part Five deals with the years leading up to Stalin’s demise and Soviet Russia without him starkly in control.
The author implicitly voices his opinion that Russia was more well-adept to deal with the financial hardships a country will surely endure while still under the control of Joseph Stalin. Service clearly recognizes the power that the Soviet Union was able to obtain under his command and thought that to be a more decisive factor than the slaughterings he committed. Rhetorical Analysis: Eigence: It is challenging enough to make a biography relevant in society, but a biography about a man who died 60 years ago maintaining importance is nearly impossible.
This book applies only to people who are interested in spending a significant amount of time reading a book that is more than likely barely comprehensible and scarcely interesting. This book is not pertinent to the vast majority of people. Audience: This book targets individuals with at least four years of college experience and a strong passion for history. The many references to famous leaders and political parties are not notorious in the United States, making this book more suitable for someone of, or with interest in, European descent. Purpose:
Robert Service intended on informing his audience of every aspect of Joseph Stalin’s life while still removing the common stigma encompassing Stalin’s legacy. The novel was designed to accurately convey Stalin’s greatness and make it overshadow the harmful cruelties he caused; however, the book did not sacrifice historical fact and did not overlook the suffering precipitated directly from Stalin’s leadership. Ethos/Pathos/ Logos: Robert Service is a Harvard professor writing a book published by Harvard University Press: this accredits automatic ethos to ext, proving everything in this novel is accepted as fact by one of the top education institutions in the world, therefore the audience should accept it as fact as well. Between pathos and logos, pathos is the lesser utilized. Pathos leads the reader to feel anger at the incidents involving murder and stealing that breed aversion towards the controversial leader, for this reason, the use of pathos is scattered scarcely throughout the book to maintain an objective view on Stalin’s career.
The Style/Tone: Stalin: A Biography produces an astute, accurate tone, proper for a formal piece such as this book. The sophisticated, scholarly syntax adds to the dauntingly profound diction to create a piece of literature unmatched in its understanding and explaining of the idea at hand: in this case, Joseph Stalin. Robert Service has no erroneous facts. doubts himself never, and rarely displays ambivalence: this self-assurance and confidence generates an academic ambiance around the facts presented.
Delivery: The cover displays Joseph Stalin’s face sketched out over a red cover. The caricature resembles a police facial composite drawing of a criminal, which connects to the criminal terms commonly branded onto Joseph Stalin: murderer, crook, fraud. “Leveling the playing field” per say and giving Stalin a clean, even, slate, and remembering him equally and as factually as we remember other famous liars and criminals, Abraham Lincoln for example, is a common ideal spread throughout the book.
Uncoincidentally, the book is broken into five parts, each an equal 121 pages. The equal number of pages coincides with the author’s desired equal treatment of Stalin. The background itself is red to represent the blood that has fallen at Stalin’s wish, this red background bleeds through the depiction of him on the front cover, displaying how the blood and pain he caused shaped him into the person was. Outside Sources: Outside sources appear and reappear throughout the book as expected from such a knowledgeable and well-informed author.
These sources are located within thorough notes and bibliography sections. Personal Response: This book was informative and intellectually stimulating but overall, reading it was taxing and not a pleasurable experience Reading this book was much too analogous with reading history textbook to be enjoyable; however, all readers have something to gain by attempting to conquer this book, whether it be historical knowledge, an increased vocabulary, or both.
