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Stalin’s Library: A Dictator and his Books

March 4, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Sponsored by The Grolier Club

Geoffrey Roberts, History Professor Emeritus at University College Cork (Ireland) and a member of the Royal Irish Academy, will discuss his latest publication, Stalin’s Library: A Dictator and his Books (Yale University Press, 2022). Stalin was a surprisingly learned bookworm, as he analyzed and refracted the published ideas of his allies, and real and perceived enemies; and Professor Roberts’ book documents the Soviet dictator’s voracious reading and annotation of thousands of volumes. In this lecture, Dr. Roberts will discuss how Stalin was influenced by his book collection, how the holdings were assembled, and what happened to the volumes after Stalinism fell out of favor. Q&A to follow.

Dr. Roberts, a recognized world authority on Stalin, the Second World War, and the history of Soviet military and foreign policy, has published 27 books and some 60 journal articles and book chapters on these subjects, including an award-winning biography of Stalin’s General Zhukov, and the acclaimed Stalin’s Wars: From World War to Cold War; and his work has been translated into 16 languages. His academic achievements have also been recognized through many prizes and awards, including Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Fulbright Scholar (Harvard), Government of Ireland Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow Nobel Peace Institute (Oslo), and three UCC Research Achievement Awards, including a lifetime award in 2012.

This will be a live online event, and all attendees will receive an email with the link the day of the event. If you’ve not received a link by 9:00 am Eastern time, please check your spam folder.

Sign up on Eventbrite’s Grolier page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grolier-club-virtual-lecture-on-stalins-library-tickets-256236830257?aff=ebdsoporgprofile