Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe

Robert Gellately

Dec 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Paul Heitsch

About this audiobook

A bold new accounting of the great social and political upheavals that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1945-from the Russian Revolution through the Second World War. In Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, acclaimed historian Robert Gellately focuses on the dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but also analyzes the catastrophe of those years in an effort to uncover its political and ideological nature. Arguing that the tragedies endured by Europe were inextricably linked through the dictatorships of Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, Gellately explains how the pursuit of their "utopian" ideals turned into dystopian nightmares. Dismantling the myth of Lenin as a relatively benevolent precursor to Hitler and Stalin and contrasting the divergent ways that Hitler and Stalin achieved their calamitous goals, Gellately creates in Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler a vital analysis of a critical period in modern history.

About the author

Robert Gellately is Earl Ray Beck Professor of History at Florida State University. He is the author of books that include Hitler's True Believers, Backing Hitler, The Gestapo and German Society, The Politics of Economic Despair, and Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler.

Paul Heitsch has been narrating audiobooks since 2011, after having worked as a pianist, composer, recording engineer, producer, and sound designer for many years. His work is often cited for the authenticity he brings to the narrative and characters he portrays, as well as his versatility, and clear, smooth delivery.