The Great Terror

A Reassessment

By: Robert Conquest

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 30 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive work on Stalin's purges, The Great Terror was universally acclaimed when it first appeared in 1968. While the original volume had relied heavily on unofficial sources, later developments within the Soviet Union provided an avalanche of new material, which Conquest has mined to write this revised and updated edition of his classic work.

Under the light of fresh evidence, it is remarkable how many of Conquest's most disturbing conclusions have been verified. Many details have also been added, including hitherto secret information on the three great "Moscow Trials", the purge of writers and other members of the intelligentsia, life in the labor camps, and many other key matters.

Both a leading Sovietologist and a highly respected poet, Conquest blends profound research with evocative prose to create a compelling and eloquent chronicle of one of the 20th century's most tragic events.

©1990 Robert Conquest (P)1992 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] terrifying record from the best of all commentators on Stalin's USSR." ( Star-Ledger, Newark)
"[A] broad, well-documented portrayal....This remains an essential source." ( Library Journal)

A voice in the Wilderness

Robert Conquest fought a guerilla war against totalitatian communism in the halls of acedemia after the Second Word War. The academinc establishment was giving a free pass to monstrous regimes because they happened to seated on the correct side of the aisle. In the first edition this book was seen as blatantly slanted and misguided. His sources suspect. After the fall of the Soviet and access to the KGB material and other secret archives was available, Mr. Conquest was vindicated, but the event was marked by mostly silence from the left.

This is an updated edition, taking full advantage of all the material that came to ligtht when the KGB archives were opened. You owe it to yourself to read this book. Remember what can happen when you lose trust in your neighbors and the State holds all the cards. Remember what results when madmen are allowed free reign in the name of 'progress'.

This is a big book. It needs to be. The sheer scale of what happened is difficult to comprehend, even today.

Frederick Davidson gives a clear and crisp reading. I can hear Conquest's humanity come through. Nicely done!

Recording issues

This is a great book and the narrator has an excellent voice. The major issue is that the recording was not done in a professional studio, or even a sound-proof room, it seems

Long but pretty good

Very important and epic story. That being said you'd better have some background before you read this and be prepared for a very long haul.

The Primer on Stalin's Terror

This book has stood the test of time. Conquest has a talent of weaving the historical consequences of the terror on Soviet society, foreign policy, military, and politics while also ensuring Stalin's victims have their story told. I am glad I was able to get this book on audible and would recommend this book to anyone wanting to get an overview of Stalin's terror.

Excellent study of terrible events.

Conquest is an expert on the topic of Stalin and the interim war period in Soviet Russia. This would have been a 5 star but the reader's terrible impressions of pompous accents drove me nuts.

A Masterpiece

Lucid and shattering in detail and overview. The complicity of (continuing) western apologists addressed as it rarely is. A must read, should be mandatory reading in college with the hope it would shake some common sense and knowledge into the current product of our public (mis/un/anti)education system.

Comprehensive and well-researched

A lot of this history you will never hear in your history classes. This book was so well researched with unofficial sources that when access to Soviet archives was gained after the fall of the Soviet Union, much of it was confirmed. This edition adds details discovered in the post-Soviet era to an already impressively detailed account of a history that the Soviet Union did a great deal to hide.

Disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book with reservations. It does a very god job of explaining things that I saw and heard while I lived in Russia. Jokes finally made sense! On the other hand, as a librarian and a scholar, I had major problems with this work. It lacked objectivity and several facts have since been proven to be false.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Frederick Davidson?

The narrator mispronounced a lot of words. I found it very difficult to stay in the "story" because I frequently missed pieces while I mentally translated the words into Russian.

Did The Great Terror inspire you to do anything?

This book inspired me to look for the primary source materials and to learn more about the various people mentioned.

Any additional comments?

This book is strongest when it presents the bare facts of different events and when it quotes official documents. For now I recommend the book, but I am looking for something better.

a great deal of information

it would be very difficult to present this information and history better than it was done here. if you want to knowing the complete futility and all encompassing nature of Stalin's purge, this is a great source.

great listen while driving

gets pretty deep into it, great narrator. Can't imagine living like that, still affecting them