About the Book
Just days before Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Stalin refused to believe the detailed - and correct - intelligence from his own security agencies that the attack was imminent. He dismissed the urgings of his generals to take steps to safeguard the Russian homeland. Stalin's catastrophic blunder proved costly: his failure to act ultimately led to the deaths of millions. This book is the first to bring out of the shadows the intelligence war between Hitler and Stalin during the years 1939 to 1941. Drawing on extensive Soviet archival material, much of it newly released, David Murphy presents abundant information about Stalin's world, his relations with his Kremlin colleagues and many enigmas that have surrounded the Nazi invasion. Of particular interest, Murphy uncovers two previously unknown letters from Hitler to Stalin in which the German leader asserts that Germany will never invade the Soviet Union. With documented revelations about what Stalin knew and complex analysis of how he thought, Murphy provides an unparalleled portrait of the mind of the dictator and the workings of the system over which he presided.
About the Author :
David E. Murphy was chief of CIA's Berlin base from the early 1950s to 1961 and then became chief of Soviet operations at CIA headquarters in the U.S.. He is the author of Battleground Berlin: CIA vs. KGB in the Cold War, also published by Yale University Press.
Review :
"What Stalin Knew is a fascinating and meticulously researched account of mistaken assumptions and errors of judgment that culminated in Hitler's invasion of Russia in June 1941. Never before has this fateful period been so fully documented."-Henry A. Kissinger -- Henry A. Kissinger
Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officers investigation throws new light onto Stalins colossal blunder, one of the wars greatest mysteriesas well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller.Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and Potemkin: Catherine The Greats Imperial Favourite -- Simon Sebag
"Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officer's investigation throws new light onto Stalin's colossal blunder, one of the war's greatest mysteries-as well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller."-Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and Potemkin: Catherine The Great's Imperial Favourite
Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officer s investigation throws new light onto Stalin s colossal blunder, one of the war s greatest mysteries as well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and Potemkin: Catherine The Great s Imperial Favourite
--Simon Sebag"
"What Stalin Knew is a fascinating and meticulously researched account of mistaken assumptions and errors of judgment that culminated in Hitler s invasion of Russia in June 1941. Never before has this fateful period been so fully documented." Henry A. Kissinger
--Henry A. Kissinger"
"David Murphy brings the incisive eye of a former intelligence professional to the dramatic story of Operation Barbarossa. The result is a significant addition to our understanding of Stalin and the Second World War." David Stafford, author of Churchill and Secret Service and of Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets
--David Stafford"
David Murphy has provided a complete indictment of the purblind prejudice and fixed ideas which prevented Stalin from crediting the terrible truth being offered him by many sources. The result was The Great Fatherland War of the Soviet People and the deaths of still untold millions of Soviet citizens. William J. Spahr, author of Zhukov: The Rise and Fall of a Great Captain
--William J. Spahr"
David Murphy has written a valuable and detailed account of the intelligence from Soviet sources warning Stalin of Hitler s invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, that helps to explain his costly refusal to heed their warnings. Donald Kagan, Yale University
--Donald Kagan"
This is a masterly book, very well documented and composed. It casts a clear and strong light on what is (and remains) the enigma of June 1941 and of the two or three months preceding it: what Stalin knew, and, perhaps more telling: what Stalin did not want to know. David Murphy s knowledge and his reading of Russian papers, books, and articles is the fundament of this extraordinary reconstruction. It should be of high interest, well beyond the ranks of Russian and Soviet specialists, for every serious reader about the Second World War. John Lukacs
--John Lukacs"
""Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officer's investigation throws new light onto Stalin's colossal blunder, one of the war's greatest mysteries--as well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller."--Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of "Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and ""Potemkin: Catherine The Great's Imperial Favourite"
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--Simon Sebag
"David Murphy has provided a complete indictment of the purblind prejudice and fixed ideas which prevented Stalin from crediting the terrible truth being offered him by many sources. The result was 'The Great Fatherland War of the Soviet People' and the deaths of still untold millions of Soviet citizens."--William J. Spahr, author of "Zhukov: The Rise and Fall of a Great Captain"
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--William J. Spahr
"This is a masterly book, very well documented and composed. It casts a clear and strong light on what is (and remains) the enigma of June 1941 and of the two or three months preceding it: what Stalin knew, and, perhaps more telling: what Stalin did not want to know. David Murphy's knowledge and his reading of Russian papers, books, and articles is the fundament of this extraordinary reconstruction. It should be of high interest, well beyond the ranks of Russian and Soviet specialists, for every serious reader about the Second World War."--John Lukacs
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--John Lukacs
"David Murphy has written a valuable and detailed account of the intelligence from Soviet sources warning Stalin of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, that helps to explain his costly refusal to heed their warnings."--Donald Kagan, Yale University
--Donald Kagan
""What Stalin Knew "is a fascinating and meticulously researched account of mistaken assumptions and errors of judgment that culminated in Hitler's invasion of Russia in June 1941. Never before has this fateful period been so fully documented."--Henry A. Kissinger
--Henry A. Kissinger
"0;Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officer7;s investigation throws new light onto Stalin7;s colossal blunder, one of the war7;s greatest mysteries2;as well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller.1;2;Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of "Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and ""Potemkin: Catherine The Great7;s Imperial Favourite"
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-- Simon Sebag
0;David Murphy has provided a complete indictment of the purblind prejudice and fixed ideas which prevented Stalin from crediting the terrible truth being offered him by many sources. The result was 6;The Great Fatherland War of the Soviet People7; and the deaths of still untold millions of Soviet citizens.1;2;William J. Spahr, author of "Zhukov: The Rise and Fall of a Great Captain"
"
-- William J. Spahr
0;David Murphy has written a valuable and detailed account of the intelligence from Soviet sources warning Stalin of Hitler7;s invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, that helps to explain his costly refusal to heed their warnings.1;2;Donald Kagan, Yale University
-- Donald Kagan
0;This is a masterly book, very well documented and composed. It casts a clear and strong light on what is (and remains) the enigma of June 1941 and of the two or three months preceding it: what Stalin knew, and, perhaps more telling: what Stalin did not want to know. David Murphy7;s knowledge and his reading of Russian papers, books, and articles is the fundament of this extraordinary reconstruction. It should be of high interest, well beyond the ranks of Russian and Soviet specialists, for every serious reader about the Second World War.1;2;John Lukacs
"
-- John Lukacs
" David Murphy has provided a complete indictment of the purblind prejudice and fixed ideas which prevented Stalin from crediting the terrible truth being offered him by many sources. The result was ' The Great Fatherland War of the Soviet People' and the deaths of still untold millions of Soviet citizens." -- William J. Spahr, author of "Zhukov: The Rise and Fall of a Great Captain"
"
" David Murphy has written a valuable and detailed account of the intelligence from Soviet sources warning Stalin of Hitler' s invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, that helps to explain his costly refusal to heed their warnings." -- Donald Kagan, Yale University
" This is a masterly book, very well documented and composed. It casts a clear and strong light on what is (and remains) the enigma of June 1941 and of the two or three months preceding it: what Stalin knew, and, perhaps more telling: what Stalin did not want to know. David Murphy' s knowledge and his reading of Russian papers, books, and articles is the fundament of this extraordinary reconstruction. It should be of high interest, well beyond the ranks of Russian and Soviet specialists, for every serious reader about the Second World War." -- John Lukacs
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"" Fascinating and shrewd, this intelligence officer' s investigation throws new light onto Stalin' s colossal blunder, one of the war' s greatest mysteries-- as well as tells the story with the suspense of a wartime thriller." -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of "Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar and ""Potemkin: Catherine The Great' s Imperial Favourite"
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