"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The Guinness book of World Records has under the title 'mass murder' a familiar picture, with a not so familiar name printed underneath- Josif Vissarinovich Dzuhugashvili. This man is better known to most as Joseph Stalin-the infamous dictator who ruled the Union of Soviets Socialist Republics for just under (or over, depending on which esteemed historian one consults) a quarter of a century. His name strikes fear into the hearts of millions of Russians and his extraordinary legacy lives on fifty-one years after his death. He holds the coveted title of the number one mass murderer of the twentieth century and is generally thought responsible for the brutal deaths or mysterious 'disappearances' of millions of 'comrades'. At one stage he had more than eleven towns named after him-including Stalinsk, Stalinabad, Stalino, Stalinogorsk and perhaps the most famous-Stalingrad. Revered, feared but rarely challenged, Stalin wielded absolute control over a beleaguered, bewildered nation.
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