PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Mark Edele is Professor and Hansen Chair in History at University of Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Soviet Union: A Short History (2019), Stalin's Defectors: How Red Army Soldiers became Hitler's Collaborators, 1941-1945 (2017) and Stalinist Society, 1928-1953 (2011), amongst others.
Edele offers a provocative new interpretation of the central event of Soviet history - and the greatest war in the historical record - challenging the very chronology and geography that typically frame it. He weaves a highly readable narrative that toggles between the personal and epic without skipping a beat. * Brandon Schechter, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Columbia University, USA * This vivid, clear-eyed, and accessible new history reconceives Soviet involvement in WWII as a Eurasian cataclysm that began the east in 1937 and ended with the cessation of postwar insurgencies only in 1949. Sure-footed in military, international, political, and social history, Mark Edele incorporates his own landmark contributions into a synthesis of a vast new body of scholarship. This fresh vision, brought to life through a kaleidoscope of biographical accounts, is essential for everyone interested in Stalinism and World War II-both of which even today haunt Russia and the post-Soviet world. * Michael David-Fox, Professor of History, Georgetown University, USA * For a period we thought we knew so well, Edele's Stalinism at War opens up a much broader conversation on Soviet military activity in the Second World War. A delightfully accessible read, backed by dense research and insightful judgements. Highly recommended. * David Stahel, Researcher, University of New South Wales, Australia * This thought-provoking book, based on fresh sources, contributes two important elements to our understanding of the conflict: it shows how Soviet citizens were affected by developments, and it provides a context which is broad, both geographically and in terms of time. * Evan Mawdsley, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow, University of Glasgow, UK * A vividly written account of the conflict that comes equipped with a raft of compelling yet counterintuitive conclusions on the conflict... It's a refreshing break with tradition given - as Edele is careful to note - the vast numbers who fought and died in these otherwise neglected theaters of conflict... Edele writes with a lively elegance that makes his narrative a genuine pleasure to read. His reluctance to get bogged down in the minutiae of war or to take sides in obscure historiographical debates keeps the text fresh and readable... What [the chapters] deliver is the richly human story of an inhuman conflict, masterfully told and compelling reinterpreted. -- Felix Light * The Moscow Times *
