The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance That Won the War

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The alliance between Stalin, Churchill, and FDR is one of the most overanalyzed and written about alliances in modern history. One could fill a small library with the number of books written about the alliance. So I was pleasantly surprised to find this book covers a part of the alliance that is rarely discussed at length, if generally getting a brief mention in other works, and that is the role that W. Averell Harriman and his daughter Kathy Harriman played in the role of keeping the alliance together.

Averell was one of the few people outside of the Soviet Union to actually meet Stalin in person, before then he often sent a delegate to meet with other leaders in his stead. The alliance was one of convenience and there was no love lost between the different players, but the Harriman’s were able to help keep the alliance together on the inside, often playing to Stalin’s ego and how each “Great Man” wanted to be viewed as the true hero.

This is one of the slimmest books about this alliance but a worthy entry into its historiography.


Reviewed By:

Author Giles Milton
Star Count 5/5
Format Hard
Page Count 336 pages
Publisher Henry Holt and Co.
Publish Date 03-Sep-2024
ISBN 9781250247582
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Issue October 2024
Category History
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