Well, there is Khrushchev's memoirs, both volumes, which are obviously highly biased against Beria. There was a huge (now obsolete) literature on transition in Soviet style systems, which goes over the facts as knwon before the opened the archives. I haven't kept up with anything since, but this bio of Beria is probably good because Amy Knight is a fine scholar:
http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/5279.html
Here is the Amozon link.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691010935/104-4686791-8279130
If you read it, tell me what you think.
My understanding is basically this: Beria was evil sadistic rapist and torturer who was also a consummate opportunist. With his master dead, he tried to make a play for personal and political survival by trying to recast himself as a reformer. As did all of Stalin's top lieutants. Khrushchev came out on top, despite a record that aws in many ways almost as wicked and bloody as Beria's because he really was a reformer -- he's been an opportunistic tyrant's henchman, but wasn't a bad guy all the way through. On the contrary. Beria, hwoever, was only an opportunistic reformer, was thoroughly hated by the elite and the leadership as a symbol of Stalinist tyranny (most dangerous, personally, to the Party elite), and was personally hated because of his serial rapes of everyone's wives, sisters, a nd daughters. If there ever was anyone for whom it was true that four walls are three too many, it was Beria.
But taht may not represent current scholarship.
--- Lance Murdoch <lancemurdoch at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 07:24:57 -0800 (PST), Chris Doss
> <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I'm reading of bio of Beria, and the author makes
> a
> > lot of ado about "Beria's perestroika," as
> Lavrentii
> > Pavlovich's economic and political reforms after
> the
> > death of Stalin are known in Russia. Does anybody
> > (Justin?) know of any good sources on that period?
> >
> > BTW anybody read Beria Jr's book on his dad?
>
> "Sto sorok besed s Molotovym" goes over this period,
> from Molotov's
> perspective. I read a version of it edited and
> translated to English
> by a conservative publisher called "Molotov
> Remembers". I have a
> feeling there was a heavy hand in editing and chosen
> word
> translations, but Molotov's perspective still comes
> through somewhat
> (although some passages in this English translation
> I'm suspicious of
> - Chuev asks him what happened to Lenin's "All Power
> to the Soviets"
> promise and Molotov supposedly responds "it's best
> for power to rest
> in one pair of hands").
>
> >From what I recall, Molotov talks about the
> circumstances of Stalin's
> death, talks about how Beria started kissing up to
> members of the
> Politburo and tried to ingratiate himself with them.
> Then Molotov
> went to Khrushchev and said he thought Beria should
> be executed, and
> Khrushchev agreed, so Zhukov arrested him and that
> was that.
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