Press Release, 19.02.2025

On 5 March, the anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s death, the Yabloko party office in Moscow will host a launch of the two-volume work by historian and social scientist Mikhail Solovyov “Stalinism: Lessons of History and Modernity”. Using historical materials, the author reveals the essence of Stalinism, its totalitarian nature. The book describes in detail the mass repressions (arrests, investigations, prisoners transfers, imprisonment in concentration camps, executions, and famine), the suppression of culture and religion. Based on sociological research, the gap between historical reality and the ideas of modern Russians about Stalinism is shown. The reasons for the positive attitude towards Stalin are considered separately.

In general, the book is human-centred: much attention is paid to the life of an ordinary person, and his/her problems. All historical and sociological facts are presented through the prism of philosophical and ethical understanding.

The author has been working on the two-volume book “Stalinism: Lessons of History and Modernity” for five years. Mikhail Solovyov spent many hours working in the FSB (Federal Security Service) archive, the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan, and the National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan. He also analysed over 1,000 different sources, and conducted several unique sociological studies. The result of this work is a fairly large book, more than 800 pages long, written in a clear and plain language.

The event will take place in the Yabloko party office in Moscow (Pyatnitskaya 31, building 2) on 5 March at 19:00. Registration for the event is required.