> Hey, what did you think of John Dolan's review of
> Service's Stalin bio in he eXile? It was oddly
> compelling.
It is compelling, but I think it's easy to take the "X was just a product of his times" notion too far. For example, a version a George W. with the "realist" foreign policy instincts of George H.W. probably doesn't invade Iraq. Small contingencies in the lives of leaders can add up to large historical contingencies--great power's an amplifier.
It's perfectly legitimate to wonder what would've happened if the USSR had been led by someone more like Tito than Stalin in its infancy. It's also legitimate to wonder why (as Brad DeLong once did on this list) authoritarian socialism as practiced in the 20th century ended up producing so many Stalins. (Though I'd say authoritarianism in general tends to produce batshit crazy leaders.)
-- Luke