Mitch Hanes

Not surprisingly, in a book about Stalin, or specifically the "cult of Stalin," that's published by Yale, the ideological bias of the author and his sources negates the effort put into acquiring such sources. Plamper clearly researched the topic, albeit with clear intentions and goals (in my opinion misguided ones) in doing so. Like many historical books on Stalin, who in both liberal and socialist circles can't be mentioned without inaccuracy and contention and bias, this one falls short in its aspiration to determine the conditions and peculiarities that would lead to any sort of credible meta-level observations about secular cult tendencies, let alone those specific to Stalin. It's clear that Plamper is educated but so unfortunate that that education was tainted with the inauspicious but ever-prevalent anti-communist bias of Western academia, so well represented by Yale. I suppose once you are on the wrong path a step in either direction can be called progress. The binding and color scheme of black and yellow on the hardcover looks nice, however it's better suited to a Pinterest craft idea for its aesthetic value than it is its educational value.