Russian Legends

"We will bury you." – Nikita Khrushchev A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Russian Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of Russia's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. For 30 years, much of the West looked on with disdain as the Bolsheviks took power in Russia and created and consolidated the Soviet Union. As bad as Vladimir Lenin seemed in the early 20th century, Joseph Stalin was so much worse that Churchill later remarked of Lenin, "Their worst misfortune was his birth... their next worst his death." Before World War II, Stalin consolidated his position by frequently purging party leaders (most famously Leon Trotsky) and Red Army leaders, executing hundreds of thousands of people at the least. And in one of history's greatest textbook examples of the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Stalin's Soviet Union allied with Britain and the United States to defeat Hitler in Europe during World War II. Stalin had ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years before his death in 1953, which may or may not have been murder, just as Stalin was preparing to conduct another purge. With his death, Soviet strongman and long-time Stalinist Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), who had managed to stay a step ahead of Stalin's purges if only because he participated in them, became the Soviet premier. A barely known figure outside of the Eastern bloc, Khrushchev was derided as a buffoon by one Western diplomat and mocked for his physical appearance by others, but any Western hopes that he would prove a more conciliatory figure than Stalin were quickly snuffed out as the hard-line Khrushchev embraced confrontational stances. In a statement to Western diplomats at the Polish embassy in Moscow, Khruschev famously warned, "We will bury you." And after his first meetings with President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy famously compared Khrushchev's negotiating techniques to his own father's. Even today, one of Khrushchev's most memorable moments is banging his shoe at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September 1960 while a Filipino delegate was speaking. Personal histrionics aside, Khrushchev meant business when dealing with the West, especially the United States and its young president, John F. Kennedy. After sensing weakness and a lack of fortitude in Kennedy, Khrushchev made his most audacious and ultimately costly decision by attempting to place nuclear warheads at advanced, offensive bases located in Cuba, right off the American mainland. As it turned out, the Cuban Missile Crisis would show the Kennedy Administration's resolve, force Khrushchev to back down, and ultimately sow the seeds of Khrushchev's fall from power. By the time he died in 1971, he had been declared a non-citizen of the nation he had ruled for nearly 20 years. Russian Legends: The Life and Legacy of Nikita Khrushchev looks back at Khrushchev's most famous moments, but it also explores how the poor peasant rose to power, his politicking and brutality during the Stalin era, and his time as the Soviet premier. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Khrushchev like you never have before, in no time at all.

"We want to achieve a new and better order of society: in this new and better society there must be neither rich nor poor; all will have to work. Not a handful of rich people, but all the working people must enjoy the fruits of their common labour." – Vladimir Lenin A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Russian Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of Russia's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Among the leaders of the 20th century, arguably none shaped the course of history as much as Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), the Communist revolutionary and political theorist who led the Bolshevik Revolution that established the Soviet Union. In addition to shaping the Marxist-Leninist political thought that steered Soviet ideology, he was the first Soviet premier until his death and set the Soviet Union on its way to becoming one of the world's two superpowers for most of the century, in addition to being the West's Cold War adversary. Given the Red Scare and the nature of the Cold War, Lenin has always been a divisive and controversial figure in Western society, especially among those who equate the Soviets with brutal repression and human rights abuses. Lenin also has his champions, who point to the fact that he got Russia out of World War I, was the first to successfully implement a modern socialist state, and worked tirelessly to elevate the working classes. As it turned out, the creation of the Soviet Union came near the end of Lenin's life, as he worked so hard that he had burned himself out by his 50s, dying in 1924 after a series of strokes had completely debilitated him. Since his life before the Soviet Union naturally gets less focus, Lenin remains a bit of an unknown among many, and he is likely a lesser known or notorious figure than his successor, Joseph Stalin. Russian Legends: The Life and Legacy of Vladimir Lenin explores Lenin's life and work before the Bolshevik Revolution, as well as the crucial role he played in establishing the Soviet Union. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the founder of Communist Russia like you never have before, in no time at all.

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Russian Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of Russia's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. The world has never had its shortage of legends surrounding the lives of supposed mystics, visionaries, and prophets. But few have ever grabbed a hold on pop culture quite like that of Grigori Rasputin, one of the most shadowy and mysterious figures in Russian history. Naturally, what makes Rasputin one of the 20th century's most colorful and memorable figures is what we do not know. It is unclear how much basis in fact accounts of Rasputin's life truly hold, since the sources mostly consist of memoirs, hearsay and embellished legend. Some contemporaries considered him a saintly mystic, psychic, healer and prophet, while others considered him a debauched heretic. The extent to which he beguiled the ruling Romanovs, and how he did so, remain mysterious as well. It's hard to kill a legend, and that has literally been the case with Rasputin, whose death remains the most legendary aspect of his life. Perhaps the best known part of the Rasputin story is that his murderers practically had to kill him 10 times to finish him off, using everything from poison to bullets to drowning. Naturally, exactly how Rasputin actually died remains a source of controvery as well. Russian Legends: The Life and Legacy of Rasputin explores Rasputin's life in an attempt to separate fact from fiction, analyzing the role he played among the Romanovs and discussing the legends of his life and death. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Rasputin like you never have before, in no time at all.