To get to the top, Joseph Stalin outmaneuvered Lenin, Trotsky, Kirov, and a legion of equally ruthless revolutionaries. This accessible and easy to read reference work reveals the more personal side of the Machiavellian mastermind, who not only orchestrated the Great Terror but also forged the USSR into a world power. Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion offers balanced coverage and makes use of new information from Soviet archives, while at the same time avoids mind-numbing communist jargon and terminology. Also included are scores of rare illustrations, some never before published in the West.