Stalin in Powernby Robert C. TuckernNew York: W.W. Norton;n707 pp., $29.95nStalin: The Glasnost Revelationsnby Walter LaqueurnNew York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;n382 pp., $24.95nN early half a century after theirndestruction, Nazi Germany andnAdolf Hitler remain the objects of greaternattention and hatred than do Stalinnand his Soviet Union, although thenextent of their crimes vi^ere similar andnStalin’s regime was in some ways thenmore complex and challenging phenomenon.nIt is possible to view Nazismnas a merely Central European phenomenon,nso petty, provincial, and intellectuallynlimited as to excite limited admiration;nwith its open repudiation of mostnof the civilized values, it did not posenany genuine or lasting moral dilemmanto the rest of the world. Stalinism, byncontrast, was widely deemed a “progressive”nmovement, had wide appeal,nand gained many adherents and sympathizersnthroughout the world, includingnsome of the most eminent intellectualsnof the age. The “Thousand YearnReich” lasted just 12 years, and endednwith Hitler killing himself in the ruins ofnBerlin as the city was taken by the RednArmy. Stalin died in bed, still widelynrespected, still in control of an intactnempire that included half of Europenand that has only recently come apart,nnearly forty years later. That the SovietnUnion, unlike the Nazi regime, nevernAlan ]. Levine is a writer andnhistorian living in New York City.n24/CHRONICLESnOPINIONSnStudies in Tyrannynby Alan J. Levinen’ Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered.n-Thomas Painennnstarted a worid war (although it camenclose at least twice) undoubtedly accountsnfor some of the historical disproportion.nThe leftist political bias of ourncentury, from which Stalin profited sonhandsomely, accounts for much of thenrest of it.nBut there are other factors, too. Asneven vigorous opponents of both Nazismnand Communism have noted, thenNazis may have been more simpleminded,nbut they were a great dealnmore colorful than their Stalinist rivals.nWhile Hitler was a charismatic publicnfigure and one of the great demagoguesnof history, Stalin was a cold-blooded,nantisocial intriguer, reluctant to appearnin public. He was so colorless that hisnmortal enemy Trotsky could recall himnonly as a “gray blur.” As WalternLaqueur notes, his physique and personalityndo not appear in keeping withnone of history’s supreme villains.nThe long-awaited second volume ofnRobert Tucker’s superb biography concentratesnwholly, and Laqueur’s booknon the “glasnost” revelations largely, onnjust 12 years of Stalin’s extraordinaryncareer: a span equal to the entire life ofnHitler’s regime. The period 1929-1941nwas probably the time of Stalin’s mostnconcentrated villainy, which includednforced collectivization and “dekulakization,”nthe beginning of forced-draft industrialization,nand the artificial faminenof 1933. These horrors were succeedednby a calculated and false “moderation,”nthe policy of the Popular Front andn”antifascism,” which disguised Stalin’sntrue policy of seeking rapprochementnwith Nazism and bringing about anworld war. The breathing space of thenmid-1930’s was merely the period innwhich Stalin laid the groundwork fornhistory’s biggest frame-up, as well asn