VOLKOGONOV ON...

... Stalin as a Personality

Stalin was a type - a ruthless dictator. When I wrote about these three persons - Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin - I arrived at the conclusion that all dictators resemble each other.... They all have common features. They are not responsible to anybody. They are very solitary people. They are on a pinnacle where there is only room for one person. These people rarely have humane feelings.

And of course, they are great actors.... [A.N.] Poskrebyshev, Stalin's personal secretary, his aide, told me that many times he saw Stalin in front of a mirror, working on some gestures. He never spoke loudly. When he spoke, there was a ringing silence because everybody was straining to hear. He was never in a hurry.

... The Dangers of Stalinism Today

I received thousands of letters about my book and about 15 to 20 percent of these are supporters of the strong hand, people who justify Stalin's actions, who threaten people like me.... The worse the situation is in this country, the greater the chance that we will have neo-Stalinism here.

I perceive the possibility of the emergence of Russian nationalism in the form of Russian fascism.... The historic pendulum of our society is moving from Bolshevism and Bolshevist ideas toward a democratic center but the democrats are very weak, they lack competence and there is a possibility that the new Russian fascist tendencies can sweep everything aside and such people as [Vladimir] Zhironovsky will ascend to power.

... The Bolshevik Revolution

The revolution was not made by the Bolsheviks and not by the Left Social Revolutionaries - it was made by the war [World War I]. Power was just lying in the streets of Petrograd and anyone could pick it up. Lenin was just the most enterprising person.