The introduction is very well written, the style is nice. It leads you very well into— (the sentence was cut off)
Stalin didn’t understand democracies.
Not in theory
And... you've lost me.
The guy that had a massive library. That read a bunch... Didn't understand democracies, not even in theory? I refuse to believe that. You can dislike Stalin, think he is a dictator. But to say he didn't understand [liberal] democracies? That is ridiculous to me.
I'll skip the part about him being a dictator, down until the part with the chair, we have already talked about that. I hold that Stalin simply moved the chair out of the way, so that pictures could be taken (looking closer at the video, it seems as if Attlee even helps push the chair out of the way). Besides that, this kind of claim ought to be sourced! (e.g. with a footnote). Also Stalin did not sit down in the video you provided (which you wrote he did).
No panic. No questions. No visible reaction.
Just vibes—and the quiet confidence of a man who already knew about the Manhattan Project thanks to Soviet spies in Los Alamos.
This is an interesting idea! I have been working on The Cold War & Its Origins (Denna Frank Flemming) wherein the essentially opposite idea is laid out. That Stalin did not know it was the atom bomb and simply thought it a more conventional weapon. So it gives me something to ponder on.
The next part about editing the request also ought to be sourced/footnoted. And the Section III Pravda, even if it is in the sources at the bottom.
Having skimmed your book... I think The Cold War & Its Origins is a much better book.
