Debates on Stalinism introduces major debates about Stalinism during and after the Cold War. It introduces major debates and major historians of the Soviet Union during the brutal reign of Stalin. Readers will better understand not only the history of our current understanding of Stalinism but also contemporary debates in Russia and Ukraine.

Debates on Stalinism: an introductionPart 1: Biography and historiography1. A ‘withering crossfire’: debating Stalinism in the Cold War2. Marxism-Lewinism and the origins of Stalinism3. The Russian origins of totalitarianism: empire and nation4. Unrevisionist revisionismPart II: Cold War debates5. Stalinism with Stalin left in6. Totalitarianism and revisionism7. After revisionismPart III: contemporary debates8. Fighting Russia's history wars9. Holodomor: a transnational historyNew perspectives on Stalinism? A conclusionFurther readingIndex

The years of Stalin’s brutal reign over the Soviet Union – from the late 1920s to the dictator’s death in 1953 – have produced enormous debate. Did 'Stalinism' form a system in its own right or was it a mere stage in the overall development of Soviet society? Was it an aberration from Leninism or the logical conclusion of Marxism? Was its violence the revenge of the Russian past or the result of a revolutionary mindset? Was Stalinism the work of a madman or the product of social forces beyond his control? Could it have been avoided? Could the war have been won without it? What was it like to live within it? The answers to such questions form the historiography of Stalinism. This transnational history of writing about Stalinism introduces advanced students of Russian, Ukrainian, Soviet, European and World History to major debates and the contributions of major historians during and after the Cold War. To readers of history more generally, it opens up the complexities of historiographical debates, where evidence, politics, personality and biography are strongly entangled. Moreover, as these debates are transnational, the politics of history change often dramatically by context, which adds further complexity to these debates. This book will allow readers to better understand not only the history of history writing, but also contemporary controversies and conflicts in the successor states of the Soviet Union, in particular Russia and Ukraine.

‘[…] explains – in clear and lucid terms – why Stalinism is important, and why it is still important today.’Professor Matthew Stibbe, Sheffield Hallam University' [...] Edele is to be commended for his exposition of the intricate, intense debates over the past half-century within Anglo-American academia and more recently within the Soviet successor states, notably Russia and the Ukraine.History Australia'[...] this book presents an excellent overview of some of the conflicts over Stalinism and an incisive analysis of some of the themes within that debate. It is a welcome addition to our literature on this subject.'The Russian Review'[...] His approach to debates among historians about Stalinism is biographical, contains a good deal about their infighting, and seeks to define – and complicate – schools of thought. That he has made a worthy contribution to Manchester University Press’ series on Issues of Historiography is a testament to the magnitude of his reading, the sharpness and consistency of his argument, and the unusual politicisation of the subject he has chosen.'Labour History"demonstrates that a historiographical essay (a genre many students consider boring) can be interesting reading… excellent medicine against … [historical amnesia] for all students of Stalinism." IVAN KURILLAEuropean University at St. Petersburg, JSPPS 7:2 (2021)