Who Killed Kirov?: The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery

Despite a slow start, and having to get used to the author's somewhat patronizing writing style, I enjoyed the book and found myself thinking about it for days after I finished reading it. I had known that Kirov was something of a maverick in the context of a Soviet leader, however I had no idea he was so outspoken in his speeches, letters, etc. towards Stalin. Granted his hands were by no means clean, however he appears to have had more of a " human face " and connection with the poeple than most of his contemporaries. Asking the question " Who benefited from his Death ? ", there is only one answer: Stalin. Not only was a potential ( and very popular ) opponent eliminated, it also gave Stalin the opporuntity to decimate the Lenningrad party officialdom, and also to do away with Zinoviev, Kamenev et al.I was surprised Ms Knight made no real reference to the fact that Nikolaev, with neither emotional nor physical training in assasination, was able to not only calmly shoot a man to death accurately, but do it close enough to more than liklely have his brains splattered across his ( Nikolaev's ) face. The manner in which Kirov was murdered, a single bullet in the back of the head / neck is almost exactly the method used by the NKVD during their executions.

Amy Knight has produced an even better book than her recent biography of Lavrenty Beria. This is a superb in-depth investigation of how Kirov was killed and who was responsible. To say more would be to give the ending away, so go out and buy it now. This is an excellent read

Sergei Kirov's assassination in 1934 has often been compared to President Kennedy's assassination some 30 years later. Indeed both shared similarities such as inexplicable bullets and the murder of an eyewitness shortly afterwards. But whereas Kennedy's death led to the rise of LBJ and his "Great Society" initiatives, Kirov's death led directly to Stalin's great purges preceding World War II, with the Soviet slaughter of approximately a million individuals. For many years, information surrounding Kirov has been shrouded in official secrecy. Now, however, much more information has been made available by the Russian government, and historian/researcher Amy Knight has delved into primary documentation that has been heretofore unavailable. Knight is no stranger to Russian historical research, and her experience pays off with an intriguing and fascinating story. Tracing Kirov's impoverished roots in the north, to his revolutionary political activities as a college student, through his meteoric rise in Bolshevik politics, and finally examining the mysterious circumstances surrounding his murder, Knight gives us a primer in early Soviet history and introduces us to the major historical characters who were intertwined in Kirov's life. Inevitably, Stalin is implicated as being complicit in Kirov's death, and perhaps arranging it for political purposes. That Kirov's murder was used as an excuse to launch his purges is without doubt. Knight has done an exceptional job of research and has gone the extra mile to produce a readable and interesting book.

Who Killed Kirov? Even a the conclusion of this fine book the question remains, as Knight informs us in the subtitle, the Kremlin's greatest mystery. Rather than providing a definitive answer to a question that has burned in the minds of Russians, historians, and conspiracy theorists alike since Sergei Kirov's murder in 1934, Knight presents a fascinating and thorough account of the circumstances surrounding his death. Again proving herself the one of the foremost scholars in her field, Knight scrupulously traces the path of evidence leading up to the crime, unfolding clues at every turn. From this book we learn about Kirov, the man and politician, his relationship with Stalin (who used Kirov's murder as a catalyst to launch the bloody purges of his regime), and most importantly, why a study of this event is so crucial to understanding Russian history. Sifting through previously undisclosed archival material, Knight has provided us with the most comprehensive study to date of the murder of Sergei Kirov. Russia has buried much of its fascinating yet grim history. With this book, however, Knight uncovers an important part of it with clarity and insight. Who Killed Kirov? is a page-turner, not only for those interested in Russian history, but also for anyone who enjoys a real-life murder mystery full of intrigue!

A very interesting biography of the Bolshevik leader Kirov, in counterpoint to Stalin. The author's research into formerly secret Soviet archival material shows that Kirov opposed Stalin in certain respects, which may have provided a motive for Stalin to have initiated a plot to assasinate Kirov. The book is more a political biography of Kirov than a whodunit, however. There are some bizarre circumstances to the Kirov murder, which this book details, such as the "accidental" death of Kirov's bodyguard while en route to be interrogated by the KGB. In sum, a very interesting book about a sinister and fascinating era in modern history.