Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives

THE definitive account of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. This book is a serious read, over 1000 pages, I was assigned to read it in college and I had to buy it and read it a second time; this is the only book you need to read to become an expert at Totalitarianism. How the two clawed their way to absolute power; what they did with it, the sheer scale of atrocity boggles the mind. What I love about this book is it's scholarly; I can't stand preachy books about Hitler and Stalin. I dont need you to tell me someone is "evil", 'diabolical', just tell me what the fudge he did and stop preaching to me. The research is flawless, what struck me was the numbers of the catastrophe that was Soviet Collectivization of agriculture, besides the 6 million dead peasants; Bullock cites the dramatic halving of Soviet Livestock numbers. If Stalin is coming to get your sheep, and you're a poor peasant who ate meat once a month; you might as well eat lamb chops every day until they come and snatch whats left. This book is so necessary because their fates are so tied up against each other, their inevitable brutal clash from 1941-45 is the main event of WW2. Taken alone, the Nazi-Soviet Eastern Front war is THE bloodiest war in human history...the fate of the world really was at stake.

A history teacher recommended this book to me, and initially I wasn't sure a dual biography, particularly one of this length, would work, but Professor Bullock brings it off masterfully as he weaves together the political careers of Hitler and Stalin. Of course it helped in weaving their careers together that: their dictatorships overlapped significantly, they each had ruthless control of parties that aspired to control every aspect of society, they each singled out "enemies" of the state/party for particularly horrific treatment ("racial" enemies for Hitler, class enemies, e.g., Kulaks, for Stalin), they each viewed the other's country as the ideological enemy, and then they engaged each other in the most terrible war (WW II's eastern front) in human history. And yet while enemies, they seemed to have a grudging admiration for each other. Stalin noted approvingly Hitler's bloody purge of the SA and political enemies in 1934 and followed with his own far more massive purges in 1936-1938; near the end of the war Hitler regretted he hadn't done to his generals what Stalin did to the Red Army officer corps in 1937. And yet they never met each other.This book is for students of Soviet history, Nazi Germany, World War II, and 20th century European history and requires a substantial investment in time as the paperback version has 977 pages of densely-packed prose, but the investment is worth it. Bullock's prose is smooth, and his descriptions at times are haunting, but most important his historical judgement is sober and unerring, or so it would appear to me. Writing in 1991, he had the benefit of decades of previous research to sort out the controversies of WW II, but even at that time the Soviet archives were just being opened so he readily admits that some Stalinist issues and events have not completely been clarified.Besides their similarities as ruthless dictators of totalitarian states with enormous resources under their control, Bullock shows how they exhibited pronounced differences as well. Hitler was a charismatic orator who was very effective in mass meetings while Stalin was an indifferent speaker who was essentially a bureaucrat but a very effective schemer; Hitler was more of a gambler who took great risks (e.g., his remilitarization of the Rhineland when the French Army was still stronger than his rearming Wehrmacht, his invasion of the Soviet Union before he had subdued Britain) while Stalin was more of a calculator and a shrewd evaluator of situations; Hitler, who considered himself an "artist", worked indifferent hours and disdained paperwork while Stalin worked long hours and involved himself in paperwork and details (on one day he and Molotov signed over 4,000 death warrants during the purges). They both were ideologues; Stalin really believed in the tenets of Lenin's Bolshevism (although he killed just about all of Lenin's comrades) and Hitler really believed in the benefits of a "racially purified" German nation. They were completely indifferent to human life. Both Hitler and Stalin ordered their armies, time and again, to defend positions to the last man. Almost unbelieveably, Hitler in his political testament during his last day in the Berlin bunker rued the "fact" that he had been too "kind" as Fuehrer of Germany while Stalin has been quoted as saying that "one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic". Bullock estimates in his final chapter that perhaps 50 million deaths can be attributed to Hitler and Stalin, so that while these monsters may or may not have been the most evil leaders in human history, their undivided command of two powerful countries combined with 20th century technology made their impact on human lives unparalleled.

Now more than ever, this book is relevant. While Hitler and Stalin's stories differed in key ways, that only serves to make the story stronger; monsters masquerading as humans don't have a single origin story.This is not a pleasant read, but it shouldn't be. It is very engrossing, so be sure to set aside the time to really digest this book. I'd allocate at least a month.

I used to teach Alan Bullock's "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives" in courses about totalitarianism. Contrary to many other college textbooks, which tend to date rather quickly, this history book seems timeless. Bullock offers a monumental social biography of two of the most evil dictators in human history as well as an epic sketch of an era. Although the author specializes in Hitler, his grasp of Stalin is equally impressive. It rivals, in fact, Robert Conquest's "The Great Terror" in its thoroughness and depth.As the title suggests, Bullock alternates chapters on Hitler with those on Stalin. He reveals how each dictator relied on his powers of manipulation, deception and opportunism to rise to power and spread totalitarian regimes meant to wipe out the human spirit and large parts of humanity itself across the world. The book also explains how Hitler and Stalin initially operated within the systems which they later (mis)used for their own selfish and nefarious goals. Whatever their rhetoric and ideology, both sociopathic tyrants ultimately craved power for its own sake, at the expense of everyone else, even the causes (and allies) they initially claimed to support.Bullock's "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives" gives us a detailed, compelling and extremely informative portrait of the faces of evil. It is an indispensable book for all those who want to understand how totalitarian regimes function and the role sociopathic dictators play in changing the course of history. As luck would have it, sociopaths are too self-serving and power-hungry to form lasting alliances. Had Hitler and Stalin not turned on each other, totalitarianism might have triumphed across the globe. As Winston Churchill famously stated in a speech after the German invasion of the Soviet Union: "If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."Claudia Moscovici, [...]

The “parallel” is not a writer’s gimmick. You’ll see that it’s essential. If you only had 5 books to read about the 20th century, this must be one of them. It’s that great.

Hitler and Stalin - Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock is a very good book about arguably the two dominant figures in twentieth century history. It is a well-written, informative and on the whole a well structured book. It does not try to make out that one was worse than the other but instead puts them into context and shows that although they rose to power in different ways and believed in different ideologies they both created totalitarian dictatorships which killed millions and subjugated even more. The few slight problems are the fact that at times because of the comparison between two histroical figures of this significance is that it does not focus on certain issues in great depth due to the confines of space. Also because it is a slightly strange structure for a book chronologically it does jump a round a little. As well as this it is also a rather large book and therefore requires a bit of effort to get through. Overall, though it is still a very good book.

Good updated version

Great value for money. Good condition.

Top notch value and outstanding exploration of the mystery of how two monumental monsters were able to rise from almost nothing to the pinnacles of power. An amazing story that everyone should read.

It is not that I am a FAN OF HITLER OR STALIN; I HAD THE BOOK AND IT GOT DESROYED IN A FIRE AND I THOUGHT I WOULD REPLACE IT. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A FAN OF THESE TWO TO READ ABOUT THEM. I JUST WANTED THE BOOK FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES,AND WHAT I HAVE READ SO FAR I FOUND VERY INTEERESTING