Signed copy

Bajanov, Boris. Bajanov révèle Staline. Souvenirs d'un ancien secrétaire de Staline.

€ 750.00

First French edition, signed and inscribed by the author to Madame Guyot-Domère. Bazhanov's first-hand report on the internal workings of Stalin's Kremlin was one of the most reliable accounts of the subject ever presented to a Western audience.

From 1923 until the end of 1927, which saw the rise and consolidation of Stalin's leadership, Boris Bazhanov was the personal secretary to the Soviet leader and one of his most trusted assistants. Critically, he was not only privy to Stalin's daily actions and private meetings, but he was also the secretary of the Politburo, being tasked with recording the secret deliberations of the Soviet Union's governing body. Bazhanov became horrified by the murderous nature of Stalin's regime and disaffected with Communism in general, and suddenly left his Soviet life behind, defecting across the Persian border on New Years' Day 1928. Today Bazhanov remains one of the most authoritative sources on Stalin's leadership style, as well as on early Soviet political history in general.