In a spellbinding novel that combines the suspense of a thriller and the accuracy of a work of history, the psychology of a monster is fully revealed, every atom of his madness explored, every twist of his homicidal logic followed to its logical conclusion. "Leon Trotsky is trying to kill me," thinks Joseph Stalin. It's a paranoid lie, but all too real to Stalin. Trotsky, in exile in Mexico City, is writing a biography of Stalin that may offer proof of a secret crime that could force Stalin from power. What will Trotsky disclose before the long hand of Stalin reaches him and eliminates the threat? The prospect leads Stalin to reflect on his own life -- the sly and domineering schoolboy battling a sadistic father . . . a youthful poet, thief, and seminarian who questions morality, evil, and the existence of God until he finds answers that free him to a life of power and slaughter. Stalin takes us deeper and deeper into his life and into the labyrinth of his psyche until we are finally alone with him. The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin is a mesmerizing journey to the very heart of evil. "A ferociously absorbing account of the making of a monster...conveys the savagery in a way that biography simply cannot." -- Newsday "A grimly comic, historically enthralling book, deeply thoughtful and hugely entertaining." -- Boston Globe "Dark and fascinating...Lourie's prose is spare and evocative, the plot compelling even if the end is well-known, and the story surprisingly funny at times." -- Wall Street Journal "Do not read this book unless you want to be buttonholed by the worst man who ever lived." -- Joseph Heller "Magnificently written! I couldn't put it down even though it gave me nightmares." -- Czeslaw Milosz "Really fine fiction about the life of a really horrible man" -- Time "The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin effervesces." -- New York Times Book Review "Works as both a history and a thrilling work of suspense." -- Time Out New York Richard Lourie is the author of three novels and four books of nonfiction and has translated some forty books from Russian and Polish into English. His articles and reviews have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times , the Washington Post , the New Republic , and the Nation . He lives in New York City. The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin By Richard Lourie Da Capo Press Copyright © 2000 Richard Lourie All right reserved. ISBN: 9780306809972 Chapter One Leon Trotsky is trying to kill me.     He has every right and reason. By hook or by crook, I defeated himin the power struggle after Lenin's death in '24. I expelled him fromthe Party. I banished him from Moscow. I exiled him from Russia. Ihounded him across Europe and drove him to seek refuge in Mexicoearlier this year.     I am destroying his organization, annihilating his followers. In hisopinion, I have "betrayed" the Revolution and fouled its honor withunspeakable crimes.     As a communist, it is Trotsky's mission to rescue Soviet Russiafrom me. He knows he is the only man in the world capable of thetask. Hitler could invade Russia and burn Moscow to the ground, butHitler could never take my place in the Kremlin. But Trotsky could.And believes he should.     The past demands, that he kill me. The future demands that he killme. In a word, history demands that he kill me. And history is ourelement, our god.     But exactly how will Leon Trotsky try to kill me? That's the question.He'd be a fool to pin his hopes on a single method. As the formerleader of the Red Army, Trotsky knows that victory in combatresults from using all possible means at the proper time and in theproper sequence?artillery, cavalry, infantry. So, to get at me, he'll doanything and everything?infiltrate the secret police, subvert thearmy, rile up the working class, corrupt my guards, enlist my cooksand food tasters, my doctors and dentists. And I would be twice afool if I did not operate from the assumption that Trotsky will strikeat me in all these different ways.     But now Trotsky has hit upon yet another way to destroy me and,though he may not have fully realized it yet himself, it is the surestway of all. Trotsky is writing my biography.     Yes, the Russians attribute great significance to literature, even exilingand executing writers, but isn't this a bit much, the great Stalinafraid of a book? No, it is not a bit much at all.     Though he's barely begun work, it's already clear that Trotsky'sbook about me will be both character assassination and indictment.I can be a touchy man, but I am able to bear his attacks on my person.And nearly all the crimes he will accuse me of are already a matterof public record?that I do not fear. In fact, certain crimes mustbe known if they are to have their proper effect, though I have alwaystaken pains to shroud my own responsibility in ambiguity. It wasn'tStalin's fault, the secret police were too zealous, that sort of thing.     But there are a