Was the division of Europe after World War II inevitable? This powerful reassessment of the postwar order suggests that Stalin was far more open to a settlement than we have thought. Through revealing case studies from Poland, Finland, and Yugoslavia, Norman Naimark recasts our understanding of the early years of the Cold War. With British, French, and American occupation forces in central Europe and Soviet forces controlling most of the east, European leader&had little room to negotiate. Some focused on repelling Soviet dominance, others on enlisting American support. Revealing a sometimes surprisingly flexible Stalin and showing European leaders deftly managing their nations' interests, Stalin and the Fate of Europe uncovers the lost potential of an alternative trajectory before 1949, when the Cold War split became irreversible.