The Great Terror

First published in 1968 to universal critical acclaim, this definitive account of Stalin’s Terror is reissued with a new introduction which revisits the book in light of glasnost.

When first published in 1968, The Great Terror was universally acclaimed as one of the most important books ever written about the Soviet Union. Now, in this revised and updated edition, Robert Conquest uses fresh and dramatic material, which has only recently become available, to give further depth and breadth to his history of the momentous years between 1934 and 1939, when millions of people died in Stalin’s purges. His reassessment of its significance confirms the Terror as one of the most tragic and far-reaching human and political issues of our time.

“I know of no other work of modern history to which it can be compared. Robert Conquest deserves the thanks of humanity. The Great Terror is a major contribution to civilization; and I urge anyone who considers themselves civilized, or even capable of becoming so, to read this mighty and dreadful, fervent and controlled, just and merciless, rolling and detailed, timely and prophetic and — above all — most necessary book.” —Bernard Levin