Speaker: Giles Milton

Topic: Stalin, the West and Winning the Second World War

Venue: Vinson Lecture Theatre

Time: 17.00-18.00 Friday 13 September

Talk Summary:

In the summer of 1941, as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin’s forces faced a catastrophic defeat – one that would make the Allies’ liberation of Europe virtually impossible. To avert this disaster, Britain and America mobilised an elite team of remarkable diplomats with the mission of keeping the Red Army in the war. Into to the heart of Stalin’s Moscow President Roosevelt sent Averell Harriman, the fourth richest man in America and his brilliant young daughter Kathy. Churchill dispatched the reckless but brilliant bon vivant Archie Clark Kerr – as well as himself – to negotiate with the Kremlin’s wiliest operators. In doing so, they discovered that the Soviet dictator had a terrifying masterplan for the postwar world.