BLUF
A new book sheds light on Stalin-era Soviet foreign and defence policy and Stalin, the dictator who led the USSR through World War II.Summary
The Strategist's Stephen Loosley examines Sean McMeekin's new book, A New History of World War II: Stalin's War. There's little doubt the Russian front was the decisive battleground of the war against Nazi Germany. McMeekin's new book places the USSR in the centre-ground globally of the war against the Axis. And Joseph Stalin is at the core of this interpretation of the Soviet contribution to victory in the Second World War. McMeekin has written an exhaustive history of Stalin's role in the Soviet victory over the Axis. He also covers the diplomatic offensive Stalin undertook to stay out of the war with both Germany and Japan. In so doing, McMeekin sheds new light on Soviet foreign and defence policy. The author has dug deeply into the archives and has been rewarded by discovering material that causes both pre-war and Second World War confrontations to be reinterpreted.
Worth noting the following documentary: BBC/PBS Documentary: Behind Closed Doors. See May 2009 LA Times Review: 'WWII Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West'.
References
Apr 2021 The Guardian Stalin's War by Sean McMeekin review – a revisionist take on the second world war
May 2021 Stalin’s War: Distorted history of a complex second World War
Jun 2021 CSMonitor Worse than Hitler? How Stalin orchestrated World War II
RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC |
