In “Stalin’s War,” Sean McMeekin gives a lengthy terse account of how Joseph Stalin used the Second World War to his benefit and, in the end, greatly profited from it with one of the largest empires ever to exist from the iron curtain in the middle of Europe to the 38th Parallel in Korea. In no sense does McMeekin place all the blame for the Second World War on Stalin. Nor does he in any way excuse or ignore the horrors of Hitler’s Holocaust. Nevertheless, this book has a singular focus – Stalin and his perverse use of the war to further the aims of the Soviet Empire and the degree to which the Brits and, most particularly, the Americans catered to Stalin’s whims as the war progressed. It is a fascinating read for those who wonder how the Soviets came to control much of Europe after war and were able to, for the first time, compete industrially with America.

The story, such as it is, opens several years before the actual war with Stalin expanding Soviet territory in the Far East and Stalin’s fervent hope that the great capitalist powers in the West would pummel each other. But the key was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Agression Pact with Nazi Germany where the two empires, the German and the Soviet, agreed not to go to war against each other and to split Poland in two. As the Nazis advanced from the West, the Soviet Red Army moved into Eastern Poland just as viciously and destroyed any hope of the Polish resistance succeeding, sending off Polish military officials en masse to gulags in Siberia. And, that was just the beginning, because as the Germans gobbled up the rest of Europe, the Soviets quickly conquered the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, made war on Finland (albeit unsuccessfully) and moved into Romania, splitting it with Germany and the German allies. Moreover, throughout the first two years of war, Germany could not have moved forward without the resources provided by the Soviets, including especially oil. Indeed, Stalin was so hell-bent on territorial conquest that even the British considered taking action against him at some points.

It was not until Operation Barbarossa and the German invasion of the Soviet Union that Stalin became an actual ally of the Western powers. And, even then, the clever fox that Stalin was, he used that to his benefit. In particular, the Lend-Lease Act that the U.S. enacted benefited the Soviets. Several chapters of McMeekin’s book are devoted to parsing out the numbers and extant of the Lend-Lease largesse, which kept the Soviet Union afloat when it was close to disaster. More significantly, the book details the extent to which the years from 1941 through the end of the war saw a shipment of goods and services from the U.S. to the Soviet Union such that the world had never seen before, including armaments, planes, tanks, and all manner of goods. The book details how much the Soviets were involved in the American factories, dutifully recording intellectual secrets and how milling plants were shipped in their whole to the Soviets. Whole air bases were practically devoted to shipping goods to the Soviets.

In McMeekin’s eyes, Roosevelt and Churchill were hoodwinked by “Uncle” Joe Stalin who gave up very little to obtain the use of the American industrial complex. Of particular note is how little persuasive power they had over Stalin as the war reached its conclusion in Europe and Stalin’s Red Army moved into Poland, Hungary, the Balkans, and what became East Germany. As part of that movement, the Red Army shipped everything that was not nailed down into the Soviet Union in a great orgy of pillaging and looting. Thus, whatever the Lend-Lease Act had not provided, the Soviets took from the Eastern European countries, setting the stage for the new industrial power of the Soviets that had barely registered before. The looting also consisted of millions of slave laborers from Germany and the other occupied countries shipped off to the gulags in the East.

Meanwhile, in the East, Stalin delayed aiding in the fight against Japan until the very end and, as detailed in the book, the Red Army, equipped by America’s Lend-Lease moved quickly into Korea, into Manchuria, and other small islands in the Far East, setting the stage for the coming into power of Mao and Communist China in just a few short years and the Korean War following that.

McMeekin notes that, in defeating Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire, the result was a 45-year iron curtain in Europe and the movement of Communists into China and Southeast Asia and the Cold War that divided the world for half a century.

Criticisms of this lengthy history find fault with McMeekin’s singular focus on the Soviet Union and his failure to focus on the evils of Nazi Germany and the fact that the fight against that evil took precedence. But, the focus of the book is how Stalin, through his machinations, helped bring about the war and how Stalin then used the war to his advantage to capture booty from America’s Lend-Lease and to pilfer and rape Eastern Europe. As read as such, it is quite enlightening as to how the world ended up as it did half a century later and how decisions made then still reverberate today.

Finishing this book while modern-day Russia is invading a country was a lot.

Learning about Stalin while fascinating is also terrifying because of all that he did and how he treated his own people in the process of wanting and striving and getting the power he wanted.

I learned so much about the behind-the-scenes of WWII and the lead-up to it that are not usually taught because it shows us working with Stalin and Russia and that's been frowned upon because of the cold war and the tensions between us that have continued on.

I do think this book is very well done. It does have a lot of information and because of that at times it was like reading a textbook which is why it did take me so long to read it. I am glad I read it though as I learned more about what led us to the point we are now, and how some of the tensions have continued between Russia and the western countries.

I have read this book twice, and I’ve put off reviewing it both times until now. The reason for the delay isn’t that grand. It’s nothing that will impress you. This is just one of those books I don’t quite know how to review. One big reason for that is because, with all things history, Stalin is one of my obsessions. The guy was just so… Stalin. So much of history hinged on him, and he was such a huge player on the global stage, but for various reasons, we don’t hear a whole lot about him in the west.

I think, at this point, I’ve read at least fifteen Stalin biographies, and countless books about his various purges, and other pivotal things that took place while he was in power. I mean, when I say the guy fascinates me, I mean it. I don’t admire him, but I find the dynamics of his particular brand of power absolutely captivating.

So when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. World War II is also interesting to me, probably right below Stalin on my personal interest level chart, but it’s hard to get any really good accounts of the Eastern Front of World War II. In school, we learned all about what happened in England and France, but it wasn’t until I was older, doing my own nonfiction reading in my free time, that I learned about the true meat and potatoes of World War II. The power struggle between Stalin and Hitler, the fact that the real heart of that particular part of the global conflict was in neither France nor England, but in the Eastern European borderlands where a war of ideology was waged between nationalists and communists.

Stalin’s War is one of those rare books that scratched an intellectual itch as nothing else has. A lot is going on in this book, but the Soviet policies in the 1920s and 1930s were fascinating, and really helped me understand how and why Stalin felt he needed to position himself on the global stage in a certain way in response to some of the European conflicts and changes happening nearby, leading up to 1939. It gave a bit of context for the Nazi-Soviet pact, which has always had a lot of attention because it was so unexpected. However, this book, with all its context and information, does show that Stalin wasn’t, perhaps, as hoodwinked and surprised by Hitler as popular belief might have it. According to this book, Stalin wasn’t surprised by Hitler acting against the pact. Rather than being blindsided, McMeekin argues that Stalin knew Hitler would invade eventually, and he prepared for that very thing to happen, but the Soviet army, for all its size, was just not nearly as good at mobile warfare as the Nazis.

This book, in some ways, was a rude awakening. There were a lot of things I didn’t know before reading it that was detailed here. For example, how Stalin and Hitler learned from each other in the 1930s, even occasionally collaborating and carefully staying out of each other’s ways. Stalin’s antisemitism nearly rivaled Hitler’s, and some of his baser policies and actions in that regard are covered as well. Stalin’s various propaganda campaigns are covered here, as well as their purpose. Stalin’s puppet governments in Finland, his gambit with Poland, and various other important political moments are detailed, as well as Churchill and Stalin’s conference when Churchill offered Stalin a good chunk of the Balkans, and the Yalta conference, and many other important political moments.

The United States and allied involvement in World War II is covered quite extensively, and McMeekin doesn’t paint everyone in the best light, though I quickly learned I enjoyed having the veneer polished off some of these larger-than-life historical figures. How a lot of the things that happened during World War II ended up playing out after the dust settled, including some policy decisions across the board that lead to the Cold War was absolutely fascinating. History is not a vacuum, and I really appreciated McMeekin’s ability to connect the dots and show just how the dominos fell. The author comes across as strictly anti-communist, but he has done his research, and he has a very balanced way of presenting historical figures and events in a light that feels both justified and not overly favorable or cruel. Balance, perhaps, is one thing a lot of books on this particular topic, featuring these particular men, lacks, and I think McMeekin did an amazing job here.

Mostly what I took away from reading this book was how much Stalin was doing without anyone noticing, or if they noticed, they sort of whistled and turned their back on him in an “Oh, don’t look at Stalin, just let him do his thing” kind of way. There was just so much going on in Stalin’s political office that is never really covered by many of the popular World War II books. From setting up puppet governments to allying himself with the right people and then using those alliances to his gains, to the lying and the falsifying information, to the manipulations, the gambles, and more. Stalin was playing the long game. He was at the center of all of it, and due to various political and propaganda reasons, we just don’t see that much of this side of the war in the West.

If nothing else, this book underscored my belief that Stalin was perhaps one of the most powerful, adept manipulators in modern history. The guy just knew how to work people.

McMeekin comes to a few very interesting, and I’d say controversial conclusions. First, he determines that World War II was probably one of the few historical wars that were absolutely justified and had to happen. That, I think, is inarguable. Secondly, however, he determines the results of the war weren’t exactly as clear-cut as we seem to think they are. If the war was fought to save Eastern Europe, it failed. If the war in Asia was over Manchuria, Stalin ended up gaining territory. If the war was to save Western Europe, it could have likely been achieved with negotiations and a lower death toll. In the end, no matter how you cut it, for at least a while, Stalin was the man behind the curtain, manipulating events, and ultimately, McMeekin argues, he came out the victor.

An interesting polemical argument, but not one that I am inclined to endorse. This is one of those books that is fascinating to read, largely because you want to toss it at the wall every few minutes. I cannot in good conscience say that I enjoyed this book, but if you want a relatively lengthy bout of entertainment, this will do. I think this book is rather a matter of personal opinion rather than history.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

This is one that I have been wanting to read for quite some time but have been holding off due to the triggering nature of such books. The book is an emotional rollercoaster.

McMeekin takes a view of seeking to show readers that rather than just seeing the Second World War as being Hitler-centric, there is a second player of equal force. I think McMeekin correctly orientates readers towards Stalin's involvement in the war - initially in pact with Hitler's Nazi regime. It does raise interesting conversations and will hopefully resurrect conversation on the Allies decision to ally themselves with Stalin and the Soviets who were certainly not immune to their own reign of terror from the 20's and ongoing with the Allied decision to ally.

This is a heavy lift of a book and one that those interested in Military History and European History would benefit from.

A valuable original analysis of the dependence of the USSR on help from the USA in the form of Lend Lease.Really well researched.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending the advanced review copy.

This is a massive book - almost 750 pages.

The book covers various types of conflicts and the philosophy behind them by Stalin. A good number of pages have been spent on explaining the Russian rvolution and further how Stalin came to power and then did a massive purge to strengthen his hold on the power. In this initial days, Stalin had a charisma which mesmerized Roosevelt to supply Stalin using Ameircan lend-lease at the expense of Britain and the US. The book explains in detail how Stalin prolonged various wars in order to benefit the cause. He worked with all the powers wherever he saw some gain.

For a historian its a very good reference book, but for an ordinary reader, this may be having too many details.

This is an account of World War II including events leading up to it as well as the post war world created by the troika of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Stalin is the black hat of the three who bulldozed over the others to get his way, mostly with financing and supplies provided by American "capitalist" taxpayers. Rosevelt seems to have naively fallen in love with Stalin in the early 1940's and while surrounded by "Soviet assets" he used American lend-lease to supply the Russians at the expense of both Britain and the US itself. He got little or nothing in exchange. Beginning with the Tehran conference even Churchill realized Roosevelt and Stalin were ruling the day and he fought mostly a rear-guard action to preserve British prestige. Stalin was setting things up for a postwar Soviet European sphere of influence and Roosevelt cleared the way for it. There's a lot to think about while reading this book.

It's billed as "revisionist history" by commentators, probably because several "canards" in previous writing are called into question. There's an incredible amount of detail about the number of tanks (and other war supplies) delivered and destroyed in battle. This level of detail tends to weigh down the narrative. Despite that it's well-worth reading, maybe more than once.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a complementary advance reading copy of "Stalin's War" for my review. The comments about it are my own.

McMeekin's Stalin is formidable as he is fascinating in this well-researched, incredibly approachable fresh lens of World War II/The Great Patriotic War. Whether readers consider this revisionist or 20/20 hindsight 80+ years in the making, McKeekin presents an excellent case on the frameworks of historical narrative

*A big thank-you to Sean McMeekin, Perseus Books and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
The book which I read slowly due to the amount on information I had to absorb, and I am in awe of the reserach the author did in order to write this book. I have read several books on the dictator, this one throws light on Stalin's diabolical skills to control the situations while seemingly remaining in the same row as other allied leaders during WW2. The book is a must for those interested in WW2 and the Soviet poitical history.

Stalin’s War by Sean McMeekin

I was looking forward to reading this book as I had read one of Mr. McMeekin’s previous books; The Ottoman Endgame. In most ways I was not disappointed with his newest book.
His major premise is to propose that Hitler should not be thought of as the most significant protagonist of WW II but instead Stalin. Who should win the gold prize for the most vilified among Stalin, Hitler or Mao? It is difficult to say. But McMeekin’s argument is compelling. Even today, comparing someone to Hitler is a huge slur but he is gone where as both the empires of Mao and Stalin still live on.
This book is thoroughly researched and like The Ottoman Endgame I very much appreciated the detailed maps throughout the book.
I am certainly not an expert on the European Theater of War II, so I learned much that was new to me. As an example, I did not know that as Hitler was invading Western Europe as well invading Poland, Stalin had without much fighting had taken over the Baltics, Eastern Poland and with significant loss of life fought to a standstill in Finland.
I believe it may have been this greed for territory that made the battle with Germany inevitable given that the two armies now were across from each other with no buffer between. Equally new to me was the enormous transfer of war material, food, manufacturing equipment and know how provided by the US through the Lend Lease Agreement with NO payback to Stalin.
What remains unclear to me was Roosevelt’s blindness or weakness to see through Stalin’s long -term plans. Roosevelt surrounded himself with people such as Harry Hopkins who seemed to side with Stalin and against the US interests at every turn. The book also exposes the weakness of a transition in power in the US as occurred from Hoover to Roosevelt. Hoover’s diplomats in Moscow clearly knew Stalin could not be trusted. But when Roosevelt came into office they were removed. See books:
o A Question of Trust by Loy Henderson
o The Bullitt Mission to Russia by William C. Bullitt
o Witness to History by Charles “Chip” Bohlen
o Bears in the Caviar by Charles Thayer
o Hands Across the Caviar by Charles Thayer
For me if there was a disappointment in the book it was the incredible detail of manpower, weapons, fuel provided by the US to The Soviet Union and how so much of it was lost fighting the Nazis. I suppose this is of more interest to Military Historians. My eyes were glazing over regarding this detail.
In the end I think this book is well worth the time to read if one is most interested in a case study of America’s weakness in the presidential system in terms of foreign affairs and dealing with leaders who do not play by the rules.

My thanks to NetGalley and Perseus Books for an advanced copy of this book.

Stalin's War by Sean McMeekin offers a new and different take for the origins of the Second World War. What if the grand megalomaniac who wanted and needed the War to further his aims of world domination was not in Nazi Germany, but further to the east in Soviet Russia. Using new research from Russian, European and American sources the author posits that the seeds of the war started further to the East and in the Pacific, way before Adolf Hitler was even in power. Stalin wanted a world in chaos and at war to further his own dreams of one world!d under Communism, and worked with anyone he could even stated his enemies. There is much blaming of the West both for appeasing and building up the Soviet forces to fight and later allowing them territory stretching from a divided Berlin to the Pacific.

Call it a reassessment or revisionist history, the book is well written and heavily researched. The ideas might not be to all readers liking, but good history books should always make a reader want to know more and to think about things in different ways. A nice gift for Father's Day or a graduation gift that could lead to some interesting conversations.

“ Sean McMeekin's Stalin's war is a lengthy but thoroughly fascinating revisionist analysis of the Russian dictator's role and responsibilities within the gigantic spiderweb of WWII”

Thank you NetGalley, author Sean McMeekin, and Basic Books for giving me a free E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3 stars
This book is an in-depth account of the events that led up to the rise of the dictator Stalin as well as his role during WWII. This book was well researched and had gave the reader another insight into the inner workings of Stalin's battle strategies and designs in the Asian theater. The author used a lot of evidence to allow the reader to draw certain conclusions by going through the events that lead up to, during and the aftermath of WWII from Stalin's actions and Russia. Many authors use Hitler as the pinnacle player during WWII and often write their books from the German battle strategies and actions and give little insights into Stalin's involvement. This book was a fresh insight into WWII and other major people and events. Overall, this book was kept my interest and I am interested to see how this book will be received by other historians!

Sean McMeekin's Stalin's war is a lengthy but thoroughly fascinating revisionist analysis of the Russian dictator's role and responsibilities within the gigantic spiderweb of WWII.
It is unquestionable today that Josef Stalin was the lone actor who allowed Hitler to unleash his powerful military firepower upon Europe in 1939 after signing the Brest-Litovsk non-aggression pact, allaying the latter's fears of a possible war on two fronts. There is no doubt that Stalin was as much to blame as Hitler was for setting the house on fire.
But by early 1940, Josef seemed to have been taken unawares by the speed of the German successes and he started to doubt Russia's abilities to control the Teutonic firewall raging across the continent. Unfortunately he had only himself to blame. If Stalin hadn't purged the top Russian military ranks in the 30s, his armed forces would have been better prepared to deal with the catastrophic situation Hitler created. His actions before the war definitely weakened Russia's abilities to mount any sweeping operations against Germany worth writing home about. The tide only changed when the Germans were stupid enough to invade Russia with all the tragic consequences we all know so well...
It's only after the Hitlerian debacle in Russia that Stalin finally emerged as a powerful player to be reckoned with. He started to put forward his grand diplomatic vision for a postwar Soviet Union and its place among the winners. From the 1943 conference in Theran to Yalta & Postdam two years later, he never stop to put forward a bullying diplomatic approach that Roosevelt & Churchill had to eventually accept. It definitely secured an important place to the Soviet Union on the world stage after 1945 and paved the way towards the Cold War. Stalin won the day.

This book is a brilliant study about Russia during WWII and a well researched look at world diplomacy at the end of the conflict and the chaotic birth of a new world order. Muchas Gracias Mr. McMeekin for the wonderful hours I spent with your book👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Basic Books for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book prior to its release date

Definitely a book that needs to be read. I read it in advance, but I believe it will arouse great interest. The very idea of presenting World War II through the face and strategies of Stalin is something new in the field in the way developed by the author. I also believe that the book will provoke mixed reactions, including negative ones, as Stalin has supporters even in the 21st century who are gaining visibility.

For those who think of World War II as that noble fight of good against evil, this thoroughly sourced book will be a rude awakening. McMeekin details the inspiration and practical tips that Stalin and Hitler got from each other, and also their many ways of collaborating and staying out of each others' way in the 1930s. Even Stalin's antisemitism rivals Hitler's. The allies thought they won by defeating Hitler, but meanwhile their fellow ally Stalin established a vast slave empire under their noses. Stalin was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. If you want to understand Putin's long-game, look no further than his patron-devil.

A really intriguing book which provides a new way to look at World War II as a way for Stalin to tighten his grip of power. It provides previously unpublished accounts combined with the analysis of Soviet's practice with regards to the realism movement in international relations. A bit overextended (too long), but overall good for readers who want to see World War II beyond Hitler's war.

Sean McMeekin’s new book, is based on exhaustive research on Russia. Most people of a certain age are very familiar with Hitler, but this book proves Stalin and Hitler were equally responsible, both for the outbreak of war in 1945 and the slaughter of humans and hope.
If you are a Churchill fan, you might find yourself a bit disappointed with the role he played through the eyes of McKeekin.