Season 5 Episode 1: Michael Carley, Stalin's Great Game : War and Neutrality, 1939-1941

About this episode

Professor Jeffrey Sachs discusses with historian Michael J. Carley about his trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s, challenging the Cold War narrative regarding Stalin and Hitler.

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Michael J. Carley, retired Professeur at the Université de Montréal, for a discussion of his groundbreaking trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s: Stalin’s Gamble, Stalin’s Failed Alliance, and Stalin’s Great Game. Drawing on decades of archival research, Carley challenges the familiar Cold War narrative that paints Stalin and Hitler as “dual dictators” and instead uncovers a forgotten history of the Soviet Union’s sustain...

People in this episode

Host: Jeffrey Sachs

Guest: Michael J. Carley

Topics covered

• history
• international relations
• Stalin
• World War II
• Cold War narrative

Keywords

• Stalin
• Hitler
• Cold War
• 1930s
• international crises
• archival research

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Stalin’s Gamble, Stalin’s Failed Alliance, Stalin’s Great Game

More episodes of Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs

• Season 5, Episode 4 - Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It · June 9, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Season 5 Episode 3: Rana Mitter, Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945 · May 5, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Season 5 Episode 2: James W. Douglass: Martyrs to the Unspeakable: The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm, Martin, and RFK · March 10, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Season 4, Episode 12: Yakov M. Rabkin, Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism · September 30, 2025 · 41 min
• Season 4, Episode 11: James Romm, Plato and the Tyrant · July 8, 2025 · 45 min
• Season 4, Episode 10: Ilan Pappè, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic & A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict · June 3, 2025 · 53 min