This is CBS Eye on the World.

Here's John Bachelor.

Joseph Stalin, a welcome professor Jeffrey Roberts, University of College Corp.

He is an emeritus professor of history and a member of the Royal Irish Academy, but

importantly he's the author of a new book, Stalin's Library, a dictator and his books.

Professor Avery Good Evening to you, congratulations and I go immediately to a fascination.

It is a dacha outside of Moscow, a named Bliszenaya, meaning nearby, and the dictator, the general

secretary, Stalin, has a library.

You describe it as 30 meters square.

We're standing in the middle of it.

What do I see around, May Jeff?

Good evening to you.

Good evening, John.

Thanks very much for the invitation.

Yeah, so in the mid-1930s, Stalin had a new dacha or country mansion, especially constructed

for him.

And the centerpiece of this quite grand house was this massive library room, which had

four huge bookcases, white bookcases.

So the room was actually containing, what if you were standing in the middle of what you

would look around, you would see these bookcases, and you would see on the shelves thousands

of books.

And in fact, Stalin spent a lot of time in this particular room indeed.

...