Paul R. Gregory

Originally published on Read Handed.

Paul R. Gregory's Politics, Murder, and Love in Stalin's Kremlin: The Story of Nikolai Bukharin and Anna Larina is a quick read. When's the last time you read a history book aimed at adults that was less than 200 pages long? The chapters are numerous and short; most only three or four pages long.

The book chronicles Nikolai Bukharin's fate in Joseph Stalin's regime. Bukharin, once a confidant of Lenin and considered the "Golden Boy" of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, was one of the party leaders sucked into the political upheaval that occurred after Lenin's death and during Stalin's climb to power. Stalin used those around him as pawns to get his way and then disposed of his allies when they became too much of a threat.

Though the title and subtitle tout a love story, Gregory doesn't flesh it out in the book. The narrative overall is lacking, leaving the book feeling stale and uninviting. The facts are there, with primary document evidence, quotes from meeting transcripts, and dates, but the emotion behind everything is minimal at best. The reader gets to know Bukharin, but get few relatable details about Anna Larina as an adult. Gregory tells us that as a child she idolizes and adores the much older Bukharin and gives us the facts about their later courtship and marriage, but I still feel like I don't know who these two were as a couple. How did they relate to each other? What challenges did the age difference bring?

The book is more about Bukharin's downfall and death then the relationship between him and his young, third wife. I like the human interest side of history, and though the title indicates that this book would deliver, it did not.

My senior high school history class discussed Russia a great deal. Our main units encompassed the Cold War and, separately, single party states. The Soviet Union falls into both of those topics, so we covered it thoroughly. I would recommend that anyone reading this book have some prior knowledge of the Bolshevik history of the U.S.S.R., especially about Bolshevik ideology itself and Stalin's great purges. Bukharin's was a name familiar to me, but I did not know much about him.

Gregory portrays Stalin as ruthless, jealous, and unbalanced: a portrayal with which most historians agree. Here are some examples of that portrayal:

"Stalin's rivals underestimated his willingness to fight as underhandedly as necessary for as long as needed" (pg. xviii)

"As always, Stalin maintained an air of equanimity, calm, and reasonableness. But beneath this veneer boiled seething resentment, jealousy, rage, and a desire for revenge" (pg. 37).

Meanwhile, he portrays Bukharin as intelligent, sensitive, and bumbling. Interestingly, Gregory discusses how information about Bukharin's life, trials, and death revealed itself slowly after Stalin's reign ended. As would be expected, Stalin erased all evidence of Bukharin from the public party history, but kept meticulous records in the private party archives. The transformation of Bukharin's reputation over the years was one of the most interesting parts of the book.

Overall, Politics, Murder, and Love in Stalin's Kremlin was a decent read. Those who wish to take a serious look at Bukharin or Stalin's rise to power should turn to more complete and interesting accounts, but for those who already know a bit about this cast of characters, this quick, but dry, read will add dimension to your perspective, though probably will not tell you much you don't already know.… (mais)

An uneven collection of essays on recently released Politburo transcripts (stenograms) from the 1920's and 1930's. The essays covering economic topics were particularly interesting. It was almost painful to watch them struggling with monetary policy when they didn't have a clear understanding of the economic principles involved. By 1927, they had completely destroyed the New Economic Policy with its open market reforms because they couldn't understand how to create an effective policy.

The essays on the numerous conflicts between the Stalinists and the Trotskyites were similarly enlightening because they illustrated exactly why Trotsky was unable to win the battle for control of the Soviet Union. He was a poor tactician, a narrow technocrat, arrogant and hopelessly outclassed by Stalin in a battle of wits.… (mais)