In Stalin's Shadow

In the voluminous secret history of the 1930s, one episode that still puzzles researchers is the death in 1937 of one of Stalin''s key allies - his fellow Georgian, G.K. Ordzhonikidze. Whether he took his own life or, like Kirov, was murdered, the case of Ordzhonikidze intersects several long-debated problems in Soviet political history. What role did Politburo members play in decision making duri...