'Oi, Did The Kremlin Make My Stalin Book Disappear?'

Yesterday the Russian publishing house Atticus cancelled the publication of an acclaimed book by the Russian scholar Orlando Figes about life under Stalin. The publisher said it was dropping the book for economic reasons, but the historian believes that the decision was the product of political pressure and reflects a desire by the Kremlin to rehabilitate Stalin.

At a conference in June 2007, Vladimir Putin called on Russia's schoolteachers to portray the Stalin period in a more positive light. It was Stalin who made Soviet Union great, who won the war against Hitler, and his "mistakes" were no worse than the crimes of western states, he said.

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