Stalin’s Gamble: The Search for Allies against Hitler, 1930–1936

"Meticulously researched and, solidly grounded in an unprecedented amount of documentary evidence from Russian, British, French, and American archives, Michael Jabara Carley’s new book presents a fresh and compelling account of the persistent Soviet efforts to build a barrier against German and Japanese aggression in the 1930s. It challenges conventional wisdom about the impossibility of organizing a Soviet-Western collective security system to prevent the Second World War II."

Vladimir O. Pechatnov, Professor of Modern History, Moscow State Institute of International Relations

"There survive a great many myths about the role of the Soviet Union in the background to the Second World War II. Michael Jabara Carley succeeds admirably in showing the real face of Soviet foreign policy in a critical era, setting the myths aside and focusing in remarkable detail on the difficulty Stalin faced in trying to work with the West to contain Hitler and other threats to peace. The result helps to reatore restore the balance in understanding Stalin's foreign policy against the current wave of demonization."

Richard Overy, Honorary Research Professor, University of Exeter

"This first volume of Michael Jabara Carley’s trilogy on Soviet-Western relations in the 1930s is the culmination of a lifetime’s work on Russian, French, British, and American archives. His peerless research and fine writing brings to life the people and events of that tumultuous decade. He shows how Stalin sought but failed to secure a grand alliance against Hitler that could have averted the Second World War II. While Carley’s canvas is large, his brushstrokes are as precise as they are colourful. This is diplomatic history of the highest order."

Geoffrey Roberts, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Cork