"A provocative reassessment of Stalin's military and political leadership during the most important years of his career."--Page 4 of cover.

Originally published: 2006.

Introduction : Stalin at war -- Unholy alliance : Stalin's pact with Hitler -- Grand illusions : Stalin and 22 June 1941 -- War of annihilation : Stalin versus Hitler -- Victory at Stalingrad and Kursk : Stalin and his generals -- The politics of war : Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt -- Triumph and tragedy : Stalin's year of victories -- Liberation, conquest, revolution : Stalin's aims in Germany and Eastern Europe -- Last battles : Stalin, Truman and the end of the Second World War -- The lost peace : Stalin and the origins of the Cold War -- Generalissimo at home : the domestic context of Stalin's postwar foreign policy -- Cold War confrontations : Stalin embattled -- Conclusion : Stalin in the court of history.