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A review by lord_petros
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock
informative
slow-paced
5.0
This is an excellent book. Bullock does an excellent job in his dual biography of arguably the two people who had the most influence on the 20th century.
Bullock places the two men side by side, sometimes in the same chapter, sometimes in successive chapters, and sometimes at the same time chronologically, while others at the same phase in their lives. By allowing himself the flexibility of switching between these two options, it allows him to compare and contrast these two men.
The other aspect of his work that I really enjoyed was Bullock does engage previous scholarship, and the various ways historians have grappled with understanding both these men and the oppressive systems they created, without it becoming cumbersome. Those that really want to dig into the historical debates can find sources in his notes, while those that really don't want to dig, can read an accessible, if long, one volume work about both Hitler and Stalin.
Bullock places the two men side by side, sometimes in the same chapter, sometimes in successive chapters, and sometimes at the same time chronologically, while others at the same phase in their lives. By allowing himself the flexibility of switching between these two options, it allows him to compare and contrast these two men.
The other aspect of his work that I really enjoyed was Bullock does engage previous scholarship, and the various ways historians have grappled with understanding both these men and the oppressive systems they created, without it becoming cumbersome. Those that really want to dig into the historical debates can find sources in his notes, while those that really don't want to dig, can read an accessible, if long, one volume work about both Hitler and Stalin.