Stalin’s War

A New History of World War II

By: Sean McMeekin

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

A prize-winning historian’s major new history of the Second World War, arguing that Stalin’s USSR was the war’s driving force.

“A provocative revisionist take on the Second World War … McMeekin is a formidable researcher.” —Financial Times

We remember World War II as a struggle between good and evil, with Hitler propelling events and the Allied powers saving the day. But Hitler’s armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his empire did not span the Eurasian continent, and he did not inherit the spoils of war. That role belonged to Joseph Stalin.

Hitler’s genocidal ambition may have unleashed Armageddon, but as celebrated historian Sean McMeekin shows, the conflicts that emerged were distinctly shaped by Stalin’s maneuverings, orchestrated to unleash a war between Germany and her capitalist adversaries in Europe and between Japan and the “Anglo-Saxon” powers in Asia.

Meanwhile, the United States and Britain’s self-defeating strategy of supporting Stalin and his armies at all costs allowed the Soviets to conquer most of Eurasia, from Berlin to Beijing, for Communism. A groundbreaking reassessment, Stalin’s War is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the roots of the current world order.

Critic reviews

“A provocative revisionist take on the Second World War...an accomplished, fearless, and enthusiastic ‘myth buster’...McMeekin is a formidable researcher, working in several languages, and he is prepared to pose the big questions and make judgments….The story of the war itself is well told and impressive in its scope, ranging as it does from the domestic politics of small states such as Yugoslavia and Finland to the global context. It reminds us, too, of what Soviet ‘liberation’ actually meant for eastern Europe….McMeekin is right that we have for too long cast the second world war as the good one. His book will, as he must hope, make us re-evaluate the war and its consequences.”—Financial Times

“Brilliantly inquisitive.”—National Review

“Sean McMeekin’s revisionist Stalin’s War: A New History of World War II isn’t just one of the most compelling histories written about the war this year, it’s one of the best ever. I doubt anyone who reads it will think about the Second World War in the same way.”—David Harsanyi, The Federalist's Notable Books of 2021

“The volume is impressive even by the standard of histories of the second world war…The book is well researched and very well written. It puts forward new ideas and revives some old ones to challenge current mainstream interpretations of the conflict… a new look at the conflict, which poses new questions and, one should add, provides new and often unexpected answers to the old ones.”—Guardian

“Indispensable… There are new books every year that promise ‘a new history’ of such a well-studied subject as World War II, but McMeekin actually delivers on that promise.”—Christian Science Monitor

“McMeekin is a superb writer. There isn’t a boring page in the book. His familiarity with the archives of several countries is extraordinary.”—The Times (UK)

“This remarkable book… meticulously researched, elegantly written… Stalin’s War is that rare thing: a book that forces us to think again, and to challenge our narrative of that most well-trodden subject.”—BBC History Magazine

“Criticisms of the British for living in a Second World War past are frequent. Sean McMeekin, professor of history at Bard College and a talented scholar of the First World War, takes an alternative view by arguing that we are generally living in the wrong war. Drawing on an impressive array of international archives, McMeekin…directs attention to Soviet activity….The book is pertinent because of the extent to which modern cultural wars draw on historicised identities and historical controversies.”—The Critic (UK)

“Based on a vast amount of research.”—Prospect (UK)

A fresh and disturbing reassessment of WWII

This is a superb book, well worth the time to absorb its nearly 700 pages. This could spark a new assessment of World War II. Josef Stalin is as cruel and ruthless as might be expected. The world leader
who shines less brightly in this book is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR and his inner circle, in particular Harry Hopkins, seem more tarnished, swimming in a toxic cocktail of hubris and naïveté.

This is the third book I have read by Professor McMeekin. He takes full advantage of his access to archives in Russia and other countries that suffered behind the Iron Curtin for so many years.

The best WW2 book ever

Well, after an interesting introduction, the book unraveled into a great deal of interesting diplomatic and intriguing affairs. I’m very pleased and I highly recommend reading this book!

a must listen

From the research to the conclusions and everything in between, this is a fantastic book. I can't recommend it enough. I'll probably buy a hard copy, so I can feel its substance in my hands.

Long but worth it

Very good listen, a little long to get thru but worth the effort . Added some new perspective to my Ww2 readings so far

Good Story-- Poor Production

The presentation of events is clear and digestible, but its doubtful this can be considered a dispassionate or balanced history. The authors resentment for Stalin bleeds through the chapters and though this can make for some engaging listening, at times it feels like the author has crossed a journalistic line and simply begun proselytizing.

However, the real reason i have been motivated to write a review is the incredibly annoying narration work. The narrators voice is fine, but the composition of the lines is terrible. Good God, every comma is treated as a full stop with a long pause afterwards, and each one of these commas ends with an upward inflection of the voice to make the line a question. Attempting to understand a passage with these elements makes a single thought sound like 4 or 5 unanswered questions.

An example: "Although he was short? About 5 feet 5 inches? And his face was flawed by pock marks? Stalin cut a dashing figure."

Though written as a single sentence, the production team has edited the narration such that the line now appears to be three questions and a disconnected statement.

A shame, because despite the one-sidedness of the argumentation, the title does do a good job of presenting accounts and evidence that is rarely mentioned in the classic WWII histories.

4/5 rating because the content is readable and interesting but i want it on record how bad the production team fumbled the narration here.