The Stalin Affair

The Impossible Alliance that Won the War

By: Giles Milton

Narrated by: Giles Milton

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Hugely enjoyable' The Spectator

'Delivered with flamboyance, it features a sparkling cast of chancers' KATJA HOYER, Daily Telegraph 5* review

'Page-turning . . . a sizzling high-stakes tale' JAMES HOLLAND

'This book might read like the screenplay of a gripping movie, yet every word is accurate and verified' ANDREW ROBERTS

'Giles Milton is a phenomenon' DAN SNOW

'Another rollercoaster ride from Giles Milton. Endlessly surprising' ANTHONY HOROWITZ

From internationally bestselling historian Giles Milton comes the remarkable true story of the Allies' secret mission to wartime Moscow.

In the summer of 1941, as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin's forces faced a catastrophic defeat which would make the Allies' liberation of Europe virtually impossible. To avert this disaster, Britain and America mobilized an elite team of remarkable diplomats with the mission of keeping the Red Army in the war.

Into the heart of Stalin's Moscow Roosevelt sent Averell Harriman, the fourth richest man in America and his brilliant young daughter Kathy. Churchill dispatched the reckless but inventive bon vivant Archie Clark Kerr - and occasionally himself - to negotiate with the Kremlin's wiliest operators. Together, this improbable group grappled with the ingenious, mercurial Stalin to make victory possible. But they also discovered that the Soviet dictator had a terrifying masterplan for the post-war world.

Based on astonishing unpublished diaries, letters and secret reports, The Stalin Affair reveals troves of new material about the most unlikely coalition in history.©2024 Giles Milton (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Five Start all around

What makes this book exceptional is how it looks at the tumultuous days of the triple alliance through the eyes and deeds of the ambassadors, the wives and daughters and the translators. In that it is a Gem of a book. Highly recommended!

New inside facts about personal relationships and historical moments

What makes this book so special, though ot deals with events and persons which aren't unknown to anyone who studied or read about this time, is that so many unique moments and evidences are provided based on the very personal diaries and writings of the people who helped to facilitate these events. Some of them were newly made diplomats and special envoys and others were their family members who somehow got involved in the scenes. Regardless, the outcome is a fantastic book that reads like a thriller and makes you think how history could have so easily gone quite differently and worse if not for the bravery and skills of so very few individuals.