Book · 2014 · Biography & Autobiography
Stalin
Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941
- mentions
- 4
- people
- 2
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 3
- recommendations
- 0
Uh another Stalin historian, Steven Cotkin, cautions against that kind of thinking in his biography, Stalin. Quote, "A sizable chunk of humanity was beaten by one or more parents, nor did Gory suffer from an especially violent oriental culture.
The best things said about it
He has written many books on Stalin in the Soviet Union including the first to of a three-volume work on Stalin and he's currently working on volume three.
Lex Fridman Lex Fridman Podcast · Jan 2020 So interestingly you uh one of the books you mentioned was Steven cotkin Stalin volume one.
Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
Why people recommend it
Stephen Kotkin's multi-volume biography of the Soviet dictator, Stalin, examines the life, politics, and exercise of power surrounding one of the most formidable figures of the twentieth century. The book received attention across several podcast discussions regarding historical figures and power dynamics. On Conversations with Tyler, Jeff Holmes mentioned the book while reviewing Tyler Cowen's pop culture picks from 2014. During an episode of Behind the Bastards, Robert Evans cited Kotkin's work to challenge theories that directly linked Joseph Stalin's later violence to childhood experiences, quoting the historian's observation that many people endure harsh upbringing without exhibiting such behavior. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, host Lex Fridman introduced Kotkin by detailing his extensive biographical project on the Soviet Union and Stalin, and later asked the author about the historical reading habits and annotations made by Stalin himself. Listeners find the recommendation valuable for its rigorous historical grounding and its detailed examination of the mechanisms of totalitarian rule, making it an essential reference for understanding the broader political and social history of the Soviet era.
Every mention
Lex Fridman he has written many books on Stalin in the Soviet Union including the first to of a three-volume work on St… 2
“he has written many books on Stalin in the Soviet Union including the first to of a three-volume work on Stalin and he's currently working on volume three”
“whose examples did you look to when you picked up these books that you read and you read the books and you made pencil marks in them”
Robert Evans Uh another Stalin historian, Steven Cotkin, cautions against that kind of thinking in his biography, Stalin… 1
“Uh another Stalin historian, Steven Cotkin, cautions against that kind of thinking in his biography, Stalin. Quote, "A sizable chunk of humanity was beaten by one or more parents, nor did Gory suffer from an especially violent oriental culture.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“so interestingly you uh one of the books you mentioned was Steven cotkin Stalin volume one”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“The first one, Stalin: Paradoxes of Power.”
“The second one, Stalin: Waiting for Hitler.”
“I think of a couple of biographies especially. If you read Caro's biography of LBJ or Kotkin’s of Stalin, it is a history of the entire period in their country's history when this is happening.”