This is the first attempt to systematically study the nature of the political leadership system under Stalin. It focuses both on the formal institutions of power, such as the Politburo, and on the informal networks of decision-making that were a central feature of his system of rule. It draws on a wealth of new archival material to highlight Stalin's relations with his co-leaders and wider elite groups, and offers different perspectives on the nature and degree of Stalin's system of personal power.

R. W. DAVIES Emeritus Professor
MELANIE ILIC Senior Lecturer in History and Women's Studies, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, Research Fellow at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham
OLEG KHLEVNYUK State Archives of the Russian Federation
EVAN MAWDSLEY Professor of Modern History, University of Glasgow
VALERY VASILIEV Researcher, Ukrainian Academy of Science
DEREK WATSON Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham
STEPHEN WHEATCROFT Professor of History, University of Melbourne, Australia

List of Tables Preface Notes on Contributors Glossary of Terms and Acronyms Introduction Stalin as Leader, 1924-1937: From Oligarch to Dictator; E.A.Rees An Elite within an Elite: Politburo/Presidium Membership Under Stalin, 1927-1953; E.Mawdsley From Team-Stalin to Degenerate Tyranny; S.G.Wheatcroft The Politburo and the Economic Policy-Making; R.W.Davies, M. Ilic & O.Khlevnyuk The Politburo and Foreign Policy in the 1930s; D.Watson The Ukrainian Politburo, 1934-1937; V.Vasiliev Stalin as Leader, 1937-1953: From Dictator to Despot; E.A.Rees Appendix 1: Changes in the Membership of the Politburo/Presidium 1927-1957 Appendix 2: The Fate of Members and Candidate Members of the Politburo, June 1924 - October 1952 Bibliography Name Index Subject Index