Bloodlands

Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

By: Timothy Snyder

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

From the author of the international bestseller On Tyranny, the definitive history of Hitler’s and Stalin’s politics of mass killing, explaining why Ukraine has been at the center of Western history for the last century.

Americans call the Second World War "The Good War."But before it even began, America's wartime ally Josef Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens--and kept killing them during and after the war. Before Hitler was finally defeated, he had murdered six million Jews and nearly as many other Europeans. At war's end, both the German and the Soviet killing sites fell behind the iron curtain, leaving the history of mass killing in darkness.

Bloodlands is a new kind of European history, presenting the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes as two aspects of a single history, in the time and place where they occurred: between Germany and Russia, when Hitler and Stalin both held power. Assiduously researched, deeply humane, and utterly definitive, Bloodlands will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the central tragedy of modern history.

Bloodlands won twelve awards including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities, a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Leipzig Award for European Understanding, and the Hannah Arendt Prize in Political Thought. It has been translated into more than thirty languages, was named to twelve book-of-the-year lists, and was a bestseller in six countries.

Critic reviews

"A startling new interpretation of the period ... a stunning book."—David Denby, New Yorker

"A superb and harrowing history."—Financial Times

"Genuinely shattering.... I have never seen a book like it."—Istvan Deak, New Republic

"A brave and original history of mass killing in the twentieth century."—Anne Applebaum, New York Review of Books

"A magisterial work.... Snyder's account in engaging, encyclopedic."—Foreign Affairs

"Gripping and comprehensive.... Mr. Snyder's book is revisionist history of the best kind: in spare, closely argued prose, with meticulous use of statistics, he makes the reader rethink some of the best-known episodes in Europe's modern history."—Economist

"Snyder...compels us to look squarely at the full range of destruction committed first by Stalin's regime and then by Hitler's Reich.... A comprehensive and eloquent account."—New York Times Book Revew

"A superb work of scholarship, full of revealing detail, cleverly compiled...and in places beautifully written.... Snyder does justice to the horror of his subject through the power of storytelling."—The Sunday Times (London)

Must Read

The author does an incredible job of humanizing the horrifying atrocities of both Stalin and Hitler. Highly recommend.

Incredible Story of Mankind’s Ability to Commit Horrific Atrocities

A great and chilling lesson of what we as humans are capable of. A necessary read to know how far the average person can go with murderous acts under given circumstances.

Not too consistent, very biased

The book overall isn't bad but it isn't too consistent with what with other authors have written and what people who were actually have written themselves. Mostly when it comes to how Hitler felt about Pearl Harbor and receiving help from Japan in terms of the war with Russia. Other then that it’s pretty insightful on how it was living in Soviet Russia, Ukraine, and Poland during that time. I also like that it covers a bit on how the Korean War and Cold War started, also I heard a slightly different version of how Stalin died, the book I heard read before this one had a statement from one of Stalin’s adjutants personally so I’ll go with that version over the one in this book.

In depth look at historical events

This book was so phenomenally filled eith information that I purchased it in hardback as well after listening to it.

What an incredible resource.

Narrator was EXCELLENT!

great research

great book about horrific events of my motherland.
highly recommend to anyone interested in understanding humanity

Excellent book

Thank you for the education in history. to be able to understand a country or politics it’s necessary to know the full content of its history if you have a Spanish version i would love to know for my non English speaker family.

The afterword

The afterword and the discussion of the derivation of the numbers. He related history back into time up to the present and addressed criticisms.

Season of Terror

I remember this happening, but had no firm grasp of the extent of pure brutal inhumanity. I saw present radicalization developing into a repeat of history and could perfectly picture what may lie ahead. I had to quit reading as the dispassionate description of what unfolded became a stark warning for the future. If you have a prejudicial bone in your body you need to read this book. You may become a victim of the next wave of a power driven solution. Read this book and you may see yourself being caught up as a victim in the next tsunami of inhumane terror

Incredible reality

How populism, right or left dictators are similar and often use common instrument and persons to accomplish their deeds, This is a fantastic book obliging you to think and reflect

Excellently devastating reality

I've had the book for years it's a very hard read so I love listening