The internationally distinguished contributors to this landmark volume represent a variety of approaches to the Nazi and Stalinist regimes. These far-reaching essays provide the raw materials towards a comparative analysis and offer the means to deepen and extend research in the field. The first section highlights similarities and differences in the leadership cults at the heart of the dictatorships. The second section moves to the 'war machines' engaged in the titanic clash of the regimes between 1941 and 1945. A final section surveys the shifting interpretations of successor societies as they have faced up to the legacy of the past. Combined, the essays presented here offer unique perspectives on the most violent and inhumane epoch in modern European history.
Preface; Introduction: the regimes and their dictators: perspectives of comparison; Part I. The Two Dictatorships: 1. Stalin and his Stalinism: power and authority in the Soviet Union 1930-1953 Ronal Suny; 2. Bureaucracy and the Stalinist state Moshe Lewin; 3. Cumulative radicalisation and progressive self-destruction: structural determinants of the Nazi dictatorship Hans Mommsen; 4. 'Working towards the Führer': reflections on the nature of the Hitler dictatorship Ian Kershaw; 5. The contradictions of continuous revolution Michael Mann; Part II. The War Machines: 6. The economics of war in the Soviet Union during World War II Jacques Sapir; 7. Stalin, the Red Army, and the great patriotic war Bern Bonwetsch; 8. From Blitzkrieg to total war: controversial links between image and reality Omer Bartov; Part III. The Big Debates: 9. Work, gender and everyday life: reflections on continuity, normality and agency in twentieth century Germany Mary Nolan; 10. From 'Great Fatherland War' to the Second World War: new perspectives and future prospects Mark von Hagen; 11. German exceptionalism and the origins of Nazism in the career of a concept George Steinmetz; 12. Stalinism and the politics of post-Soviet history Mark von Hagen; Conclusion.
