The Kremlin Letters

Illuminating and insightful. . . . An indispensable resource. -Jonathan W. Jordan, Wall Street Journal This is a masterful work of history. It should be read by anyone who wants to understand how the world we live in was shaped not only by the whole sequence of events of 1941-45, but also by the thoughts and feelings of just three extraordinary individuals. -Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph Fresh and valuable insights into the way Stalin drafted and edited his messages. - Tony Barber, Financial Times (Books of the Year 2018) David Reynolds and Vladimir Pechatnov have done a superbly scholarly job in documenting the relationships Stalin had with Churchill and with Franklin Roosevelt through their epistolary contact. - Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph Two eminent scholars have produced a fascinating and detailed narrative of the war's decision-making that embeds the leaders' correspondence and memoirs into other archival material. -Jonathan Steele, The Guardian This is a big book in every sense of the word [. . .] Highly recommended -Peter Howson, Methodist Recorder It is welcome that this book has been produced. The authoritative version of the message texts makes a significant contribution to the scholarship of the period -Max Hastings, London Review of Books The Kremlin Letters is a remarkable book, one that is not only informative, but also a pleasure to read, thanks in large part to the ongoing narrative that the editors and authors provide. -David B Woolner, Irish Times David Reynolds and Vladimir Pechatnov have rendered an outstanding service and annotating the letters with a keen critical eye and a lucid grasp of the historical issues surrounding their writing and reception -Richard Overy, Literary Review The book [. . .] constitutes a publication in full of the major part of the Stalin-Churchill-Roosevelt correspondence from 1941 to 1945, showing alterations in successive drafts and accompanied by a detailed running commentary drawing on multi-archival research - Sheila Fitzpatrick, Australian Book Review A must-have volume for anyone seeking to elucidate the interplay between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt between 1941 and 1945. The meticulous research of Professor David Reynolds and Professor Vladimir Pechatnov is a unique Anglo-Russian collaboration based on archival material in Russia, the UK and the USA. But this book offers not just the raw material of the key missives between the three leaders. It also provides a detailed commentary explaining the often constrained language of diplomacy and sets it within the context of what was happening at the time. It presents an Anglophone audience with a compelling and comprehensive account of the triangular network of exchanges at the top level which helped shape this vital period of the Second World War. -Bridget Kendall The fascinating wartime correspondence between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt is set in historical context by its meticulous editors in an admirably succinct and perceptive narrative: a model of Anglo-Russian scholarly cooperation. -Sir Rodric Braithwaite This book will be of great value for historians as an excellent archival reconstruction of an important historical source. In addition to its thorough research, broader audiences it will find it an exciting read. The story of these three world leaders unveils the secrets of politics in the most terrible of wars. -Oleg Khlevniuk Is there anything more to learn from the World War II correspondence of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt? I'd have wondered before reading this volume, but Vladimir Pechatnov, David Reynolds, and their international research team have changed my mind. For not only is The Kremlin Letters filled with new information: it's also a pioneering effort to embed documents within a single sustained narrative, all the more compelling for the collaborations that produced it. Which simultaneously give it precision, great sweep, and best of all freshness-a magnificent accomplishment! -John Lewis Gaddis, Yale University Here the leading British and Russian historians of the Grand Alliance present a gripping and all-encompassing documentary history of Stalin's relations with Churchill and Roosevelt during the Second World War. A feast of scrupulous research, The Kremlin Letters rewrites the history of the War as we knew it. -Gabriel Gorodetsky, Quondam Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford and editor of The Maisky Diaries