at the time, many people remained loyal to the stalin cult.ost french communists were not aware of the full extent of his atrocities until the fall of the soviet union, when the door to the archives finally opened. he wrote his best-selling book several years after the collapse. >> these are the foreign editions of the black book. there are so many, i don't know what to do with them. recently, it was translated into japanese. the book was important to all on the left. it was no longer possible to ignore the criminal nature of the regime. the book helped bring about the definitive downfall of communist ideology. >> the mayor remains committed. she says the soviet union never instituted true communism. she still keeps the dream of the victory of the proletariat alive. the traditional marion that she was given when she took office is still on -- marionette she was given when she took office is still on display. >> he has his foot up, ready to step on any injustice. >> she still believes in the superiority of a planned economy and feels vindicated

, propping up stalin when hitler attacked and he thought what would lead to expansion of communist in the world. i think one of the interesting parts of be the back is his emphasis on the tehran conference. not yalta but the tehran conference of 1943 as a lost opportunity for trying to reign in the imperialistic appetites of joseph stalin. so that was somewhat surprising. i think what i find most awesome about the book -- not quite surprising, because i've known about it in other ways -- was the sheer energy that he poured into this. here's a man who, in his 80s, got up at 5:30 in the morning, at his desk at 6:00 and he would wright until 6:00 the next inge with short intervals for break fast, lunch, and an afternoon consecutive fear break. his he was writing many books and between the ages of 58 -- 85 and 90, he published seven books but not the magnum opus, the one that mattered most. so his tenacity, his desire to get the record out, the wrote the four-volume epic series. volume four was a revised version of volume six of the original memoir scheme. so he got that in at the end. wh

you are the man who could make the ink in your book on stalin, what a handsome man that stalin was. so it gave me the idea that i was going to have stalin undergoing transformation of the hotel by catherine the great. the question i have now and i haven't delved in terror biography at, but i have catherine trying to soothe who says i don't know why people try these ideas of the village is the matter with the why has gone down in history that way. and catherine is soothing him and cuddling him and him and say, don't worry my darling. i have asked simon sebag montefiore or to write a biography of you and i know he will tell the truth. now i have to go home tonight and look. shall i be scared? chalets drink before i go home? >> you should definitely have a glass of wine. that's the nicest question i've ever had. thank you very much. before you finish, i got an e-mail today. not quite answering your question, but i love your question. he reminds me of something. i received a letter from my history teacher in england who wrote to say he put up on the picture a young starlet on the cover

he was a man who could make me think your book on stalin what a handsome man that stalin was. so it gave me the idea that i was going to have stalin undergo a transformation of being. helped out by catherine the great. what the question i have now, and i haven't filled into your biography yet, "potemkin," but i have catherine trying to sooth "potemkin," i don't know why people have this idea of me, the villages but i don't know why i've gone down in history that way. and catherine is suiting him and cuddling him and stroking him and saying, don't worry, my darling, i have asked them to write a biography of you, and i know he will tell the truth. now, i have to go home tonight and look, shall i be chic scared? but i think it doesn't have a glass of wine been okay, i will. thank you. that's the nicest question i've ever had, thank you very much. before i finished, i can end up today, not quite answer your question which, but i love your question. but everybody is something. i received a letter from a history teacher in england wrote to me to say that he put up the picture of you

he said that now that the two dictators were confronting each other hitler and stalin the best thing to do was to let them engage in what they fall a fratricidal board, which he said was weakening them and letting britain off the hook. even if germany should temporarily plan in the east in the sense of knocking the russians out of the war and perhaps overthrowing the stalinist regime, in hoover's view, the germans could never really successfully control the populations. he said conquest always dies of indigestion. i think that was one of hoover's aphorisms. he argued there would be rebellious guerrilla warfare and indeed some of that happened on the eastern front partly because the germans had a master race viewpoint and therefore the slots -- slots for subhuman enough to be treated as allies but as an inferior race to be dominated. so hoover argued that even if the germans were to when they could not conquer britain and they could not even control the population. they would be bogged down and that is the argument. >> host: does that apply to occupy europe as well because obviously i

he said that now that the two with dictators were confronting each other -- hitler and stalin -- the best thing to do was let them engage in what he called a frat rah sidal war, and even if germany should temporarily win in the east in the sense of knocking the russians out of the war and perhaps overthrowing the stalinist regime, in hoover's view the germans could never really successfully control the conquered populations. he says conquest always dies of indigestion, i think that was one of hoover's little after riches. he argued there would be rebellions, guerrilla warfare, and indeed can, some of that happened on the eastern front partly because the germans had the master race argument. .. seemed to think the germans were biting off more than they coachee chew in more than they could chew. it one of this questions that historians indulge in and simultaneously say are impossible to answer. what we -- i don't think what people knew at the time has fairly recently become obvious, is the germans as a truly genocidal intent. not only for the jews, but for tens of millions of pols and

, what a handsome man that stalin was. so it gave me the idea that i was going to have stalin undergo a transformation, helped out by catherine the great. the question i have now and i haven't delved into your biography yet, but i have catherine trying to fuse pantheon who says i don't know why people have this idea of me and i don't know why i have gone down in history that way and catherine is soothing him and cuddling him and in him and saying, don't worry my darling, i have asked simon sebag montefiore to write a biography of you and i know he will tell the truth. [laughter] now i have to go home tonight and look. shall i be scared? shall i drink before go home? >> i think you should definitely have a glass of wine. [laughter] that is the nicest question i have ever had. thank you very much. before we finish, i got an e-mail today, that won't quite answer your question but i love your question. it reminds me of something. a history teacher in provincial england who wrote to me to say he had put up the picture of young

as i understand hoover's strategic view of the war situation europe was basically what hitler and stalin eventually they would be fighting each other to the point of exhaustion and above all encourage germany and its expansion to the east so for example the guaranteed later would draw to the czech and the polls and comes into criticism in hoover's account. that was to be one of the more surprising features of the book as i, pardon me, began to do the research for my editors introduction. it's not a unique production. a few historians may be on the right have occasionally made the argument. hoover's view is the very essence of hitler, adolf hitler might see ideology was to turn eastward in the living space and that meant ukraine and russia ultimately and that hitler was a fanatic anti-communist and would turn his sights on the russians as he eventually did. hoover's view is that adolf hitler and the nazis had no desire to swing west. that is the data along the historians, but that is hoover's viewing and there is an argument as to what hitler's intentions were. so, and herbert hoover's op

, propping up stalin, when hitler attacked. he said that was bound to lead ultimately to an expansion of communism in the world and he felt vindicated in that prove simple. one of the interesting parts of the book is his interest in the tehran conference in 1943 as a lost opportunity for trying to reign in the imperialistic appetites of joseph stalin. so that was somewhat surprising. i think what i find most awesome about the book -- not quite surprising, because i've known about it in other ways -- was the sheer energy that he poured into this. here's a man who in his 80s got up at 5:30 in the morning, at his desk at 6:00 and would write until 6:00 the next evening with short intervals for breck fashion lurch, and a mid-afternoon coffee break. he was writing many books, and my favorite statistic, between the ages of 85 and 90, he wrote seven books, published seven books. but not the magnum opus, the one that mattered to him most. so the man's tenacity, his desire to get the record out -- he wrote that four-volume american epic

all of the girls in school are in love with stalin. [laughter] thank you for that lovely question i knew very flattered. cannot wage to read you're novel. >> thank you very much for having me. [applause] hot. >> it is authors night several different authors are here selling their books to support charity. one of those authors is in the author of a new voice for israel. first of all,, what is jay street the pro-israel/perot peace lobby a new organization pressing for american engagement to achieve a middle east peace. >> host: how do stand compared to aipac? >> we believe the two state solution is in the united states in israel best interest we want to see the president do more, not less to help achieve these. >> host: mr. ben-ami, what is the new voice? >> guest: menu voice is to have a counterweight that for too long have spoke for the entire community for the average jewish-american for those who are 40 and under the jewish community that does not mean supporting every decision of the israeli government or take gain the most hawkish

but stalin ran up his officers. sue crafter was the one who first of all deployed troops behind the frontline to shoot down anyone who ran away so that the men in the frontline knew if they hung on americans the germans they might well get killed, but if they try to turn them out -- >> host: the russians were than any other army killed their own. >> guest: 300,000 of their own they killed. dereliction of duty quite incredible. that's almost as much as the british army lost in the action of the word. all this stuff is coming out of russia now because all it does is come the old russian myths were being told the truth about the decrease of which compulsion decided this. for example, i've quoted in the book some of these extraordinary secret police reports from the battle of cooks with officers being shot for drunkenness in the frontline command being found when they were supposed to be leading their battalions in the attack, not being patched up with their comfort cam campaign wise. these are extraordinary stories, wh

. >> was the stalin comparable but just too heavy. >> it was technological ly inferior. >> this didn't last very long, did it? >> it was in korea. >> was it used up until about 1948. >> when i was in the army we had it. >> i grew up on 48's. i remember when the 60 was coming in. that was the great revolution. >> yes. i graduated from v.m.i. and when i was an armor officer we were told we were going to be overrun with hordes of russians and first round hits would be important. >> i helped don story develop doctrine and the whole idea about how you maintain the russians. and my dad served in stuttgart from 1957 to 1960. we forget the german border was gone and all the stuff we did disappeared. >> i will allow my self one political comment and when obama was running he never served a day in uniform. >> and had no respect for it. >> tell me the concept of the museum. >> it has three components. it is meant to talk about the american world war ii experience generally. we have a gallery on the far side that is just civilian, the home front, things that people experienced on the home front. t

the people on the political right see that as the second coming of stalin. the economy did well in the 1980's and 1990's when tax rates were much higher. the highest marginal rate was 39% in the 1990's. 36% now. there's something very overwrought when we talk about is the rich should pay a little more. for most of history, they have paid substantially more. the tax cuts were meant to be temporary. >> thank you. thank you very much. thousands of egyptians have returned to tahrir square in cairo one year after the start of protests that overthrew president hosni mubarak. this is the scene live at the center of the egyptian capital. it's the scene of two different gatherings. one is calling for a revolt against army rule. another is about to celebrate the changes that have already been achieved. our correspondent in the square says its dominated by the muslim brotherhood, just like the parliament. the so-called facebook generation, mainly young people, they are somewhat lost in the crowd apparently. the fact that the muslim brotherhood one the most seats in egy

argument that he'd made the greatest blunder in the history of american diplomacy by an alliance with stalin, propping up stall and when hitler attacked. he said that was bound to legal smiley to an expansion of communism in the world and he felt vindicated in that process. i think one of the interesting parts about this book is its emphasis on the tehran conference, not yalta so much with the tehran conference in 1943 is a lost opportunity for trying to reign in the imperialistic appetites of joseph stalin so that was somewhat surprising. i think what i find most often about the book, not quite surprising, because i have known about it in other ways, was the sheer energy that he brought into this. here is a man who in his 80s got up at 5:30 in the morning. he was at his desk at 6:00 and he would write until 6:00 the next evening with short intervals of breakfast, lunch and unlike coffee break. .. >> are there unpublished manuscripts still in the baltic as it were? >> i did discover in researching, various drafts of what has been the parallel volume where he discusses his domestic politics i

dominate the world, and i think it is correct to say that the world wouldn't be better off if it was a stalinism. today that is no longer the issue. in the east is not going to dominate the world. the danger today in my view is that if we do not do the things i say in my book, and i'm thinking of it strategically, the world will succumb to greater and greater turmoil. the world is now not only composed of competitive states that should be as possible cooperative states. it's also composed, and this is a very major historical discontinue the that is composed now of what i call global political awakening, the population of the world is activated in its political conscience, it's politically restless and resentful it is angry and therefore it is a much more complicated process. and our role in that setting and in the far east should be to try to conciliate also to balance between the major protagonists without doing what we did in europe becoming directly involved in the conflict. >> you have been given a good deal of credit in the last year for your press and preceding the there was this global po

correct to say and morally right to say that the world would be better off without hitlerism or stalinism. this is no longer the issue. the danger today in my view is if we do not do the things i say in my book, and i'm thinking of is strategically, the world will succumb to greater and greater turmoil in the future. the world is now not only composed of competitive states that should be of possible cooperative states, it's also composed, and this is the very major historical continuity, it is composed now for what i called global political -- the population of the world is politically conscious, it is politically resentful. it is historically angry and therefore it's a much more complicated process and are rolled particularly in the far east, should be to try to conciliate but also to balance between the major protagonists, without doing what we did in europe getting directly involved in their conflicts. >> host: you have been given a good deal of credit in the last year for your press en's and perceiving that there was this global political awakening on the horizon because it seems to h

in the summer of two thousand and ten the government decided to remove a monument to stalin from the town's central square journalists wanted to cover the story when both supporters and opponents of the demolition gathered on the square. reporters wanted to present an objective story by filming both sides but they stood no chance. of plainclothes policemen came up to us not to film anything where they prevented us from performing our professional activities they attacked me and my camera we were detained and our camera was confiscated. after the square was cleared of demonstrators opposing the demolition the camera was handed back to the journalists and released from the police station . we were able to film this part. of the camera back to us something was missing they had deleted the footage of the rally against the monuments demolition. the only part left was of these pro-government activists applauding that it was never john doe motive to make trial position media but for several years now government officials have steered clear of his talk show. we make no distinction between th

he said that the soviet union, the soviet system, stalin required a hostile outside world, and so there wasothing we could do to overcome that hostility, it was inherent in the system. but he also said if we were patient then the internal contradictions within the system, sooner or later would frustrate its ambitions, we had time, stalin was not hitler, he didn't have a timetable, and so with patience and some building of fortifications on our side, in time, the system would umble from within. so it is an extraordinary anticipation ofhat would actually happen. >> rose: but we had to resist every extension of their effort ofheirxtension. >> not necessarily, this is what is wording at times implied but he was very, very cautious about the relationship between ends and mes, he did not want us going around the world opposing communism everywhere. so he had to oppose it in europe and in japan, the areas that were vital, he said we had no business opposing it in china because china was far beyond our capabilities. he sd leave china alone, let it go, communists, l moo take, [ moo! ] over and,

villains in history and we assume them to be larger than the people around them -- hitler, napoleon, stalin. george ii perhaps. -- georgeiii perhaps. why did i bring up? >> a good counterbalance to george washington. for great evil you need great good. >> do you think we need msnbc and fox? is it competition? the polarity. it creates an incipient historical problem in that we sort of expect our next enemy to be china. this is part of the duality that seems to be so much part of history. do we need the duality? competition in the construction -- constructive sense. >> thomas edison said if you want to be successful, get a few enemies. competition and threats bring out -- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. so, if you are going to have the great evil of and of hitler you need the great goodness of the west and churchill and chang kai shek and roosevelt to respond. >> this is highly readable but also a work of scholarship and you clearly are a scholar. i know people do not like to be described as intellectuals. they tend to think it in pews of their manhood. -- impugns th

can give you if you're going to pollution go claims his seventh european title in stalin's russia dominates the figure skating championships in england. and the order to new zealand on exactly a code becomes the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event at the age of just fourteen. tennis first the world number one now but djokovic has outlasted arch rival rafael the doll in a record long battle to claim his third astray an open crown the services came from a set down and looked in control of the fourth set but a thrilling comeback by an adult so the spine of course and when you decide up to dr richard finally converting his first match point to win it seven five in five hours and fifty three minutes the twenty four year old is only the fifth man to win three major titles in a row for the beach but also retired all in all their six matches last year including the wimbledon and u.s. open despite his well meanwhile russia's un of as nina has lost the mixed doubles final she and indian partner of the on the pace came back from a set down against bethany matic sounds of the usa and rema

. >> the leaders from hitler to stalin, no one mattered, so we need to explain to the people. now i am completely vindicated, because the decision is not only a technical decision. it's purely based on sex and the law, and have no basis to proceed in the first place. the charge has come up from day one. the fact i was asked to defend myself without any basis or evidence to settlement the case is condemned internationally. >> many thanks indeed for joining us here on "bbc world news." we do appreciate it, thank you. you're watching "bbc world news." still to come -- >> we are at war! >> i promise you i'll i'll look after him if i can. >> a glittering royal premiere here in london for the steven spielberg film, "warhorse." we hear from the oscar-winning filmmaker. the renowned weekly television program of venezuelan president, hugo chavez, has returned to the country's airwaves after a hiatus of more than seven months. the last broadcast was in june last year, shortly before the president was diagnosed with cancer. his return is crucial ahead of the country's polls in october. >

an alliance with stalin propping up when hitler attacked he said the was bound to lead ultimately to the expansion of communism in the world and he felt vindicated and that prophecy. i think one of the interesting part about this book is his emphasis on the conference of 1943 as a lost opportunity for trying to rein in the unrealistic appetite of joseph stalin so that was somewhat surprising. i think what i find most often about the book, not quite surprising because i've known about it in other ways was the sheer energy that he poured into this. here is a man who in his eighties got up at 5:30 in the morning he was at his desk at six and would write until 6 o'clock the next evening for breakfast or lunch in the midafternoon coffee break. he was an only writing a magnum-opus come he was writing other books and my favorite statistic between the ages of 85 and 90 he wrote seven books, published seven books but not the magnum-opus that mattered to him the most. .. >> i don't know. he called that his crusade book. that is yet to to be published. >> host: hopefully you will bring it to us

stalin's dead. but we're still spending tens of billions of dollars. and subsidizing. the percentage of grant spent by the average member of nato is 1.7% except for the u.s. which is 5%. that's a degree of wealthy nations that we shouldn't bother with. secondly i believe we should raise taxes on wealthy people. e republicans object as a proposal ithe nate to put a 5.6% surtax on income over a milln dollars a year. that means after you've learned a million dollars a year in taxable income the next thousand dollars you earn you'd have to pay $56 in taxes. they acted like that was going to be some terrible thing. they could have raised hundreds of billions of dollars over t ten years. so i would raise taxes on wealthy people as we did under bill clinton. one of the entitlements... we have means tested entitlements and non-means tested entitlements. we have an anti-means tested entitlement, that's the farm program. that's an entitlement under the law and the bigger your farm, the more money you make. tens of billions of dollars is wasted on the farmers. and some of the mos