The Kremlin Letters: Stalin's Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt

This book publishes 75 percent of the 682 letters sent among Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Coauthors Reynolds (international history, Cambridge Univ.; Allies at War) and Pechatnov (European/American studies, Moscow State Inst. of International Relations; The Big Three After World War II) use their expertise to place each letter in relation to events occurring at that moment during the war. The correspondence between the three leaders started in June 1941 after Hitler attacked Russia and lasted until Roosevelt's death in April 1945. The authors present the letters as conversations when appropriate and then add historical context. The interplay between Churchill and FDR, as they try to convince the other that he's the best person to woo Stalin into an alliance is fascinating. Readers may be interested to learn that the leaders did not see the Cold War as a possibility when World War II concluded. Includes maps and a list of abbreviations.