The Third edition of this best-selling Seminar Study provides the latest research, interpretations and historiographical debates about one of the key figures of the twentieth century. The debate about Stalin's role in creating the Soviet superpower still rages. Was the violence justified? To what extent was Stalin the master of events? Now thoroughly updated and including a completely new chapter on Stalin's personality and power, this new edition provides the essential introduction to the Stalin phenomenon. The book is a suitable introductory text for undergraduate History courses on dictatorships, Russia & the USSR and the 2nd World War.