Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky (Russian:Э́двард Станисла́вович Радзи́нский; born September 23, 1936) is a Russian historian, playwright, television personality, andscreenwriter. He authored more than forty history books that are popular in Russia.
Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky was born inMoscow,Russia on September 23, 1936, to playwright Stanislav Radzinsky and his wife Sofia. He studied in the Moscow Archive Institute and is a trained historian.
In 1955 Radzinsky married actress Alla Geraskina, a daughter of popular Soviet playwright and writer Lia Geraskina. Their son Oleg was born in 1958. Radzinsky divorced Alla in 1964.
He then marriedTatiana Doronina, one of the leading Soviet actresses of the 60s-70s. They divorced later. He is married to actress Elena Denisova.
Radzinsky became a writer of popular non-fiction books on historical subjects, publishing more than forty. He has specialized in books about figures and times of Russian history. Since the 1990s, he has written the seriesMysteries of History. Books translated into English include his biographies of TsarsNicholas II andAlexander II,Rasputin, andJoseph Stalin.
According to the book, Stalin was poisoned by order ofLavrentiy Beria. His book includes an interview with a former bodyguard of Stalin, who stated that on the night of Stalin's death, the bodyguards were relieved of duty by anNKVD officer named Khrustalev. This same officer was briefly mentioned inMemories, the memoir of Stalin's daughterSvetlana Alliluyeva.
^David Brandenberger. Reviewed work(s):Stalin: The First In-Depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives by Edvard Radzinsky; H. T. Willetts,Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Jan., 1997), pp. 176-179
^Radzinsky cited a document preserved in the Military-Memorial Center of the Soviet General Staff, which was a draft of a plan for military strategy in case of war with Germany, drawn up byGeorgy Zhukov, dated May 15, 1941, and signed byAleksandr Vasilevsky andNikolai Vatutin. The document stated: "In view of the fact that Germany at present keeps its army fully mobilized with its rear services deployed, it has the capacity of deploying ahead of us and striking a sudden blow. To prevent this I consider it important not to leave the operational initiative to the German command in any circumstances, but to anticipate the enemy and attack the German army at the moment when it is in the process of deploying and before it has time to organize its front and the coordination of its various arms".
