The Unknown Stalin is the first detailed study of the torrent of new material revealed to the world when the secret Soviet archives were opened. Conventional beliefs and cliches are contradicted and disproved, inaccuracies and misconceptions are corrected, and the facts about Stalin's intellect, ancestry, and the fortunes of his personal effects after his death are fully examined. This startling work represents one of the most significant contributions to the study of Russian history in decades, a book of vital interest to scholars and general readers.