Created on 29 January 2026
In this episode, Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Michael J. Carley, retired professor at the Université de Montréal, discussed Carley's ground-breaking trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s: ‘Stalin’s Gamble’, ‘Stalin’s Failed Alliance’, and ‘Stalin’s Great Game’.
Together they explore how Britain, France, and the United States repeatedly rejected these overtures, shaped by anti-communism, imperial interests, and deep-seated prejudices that cast the USSR – not Hitler – as the greater threat. This strategic blindness, Carley argues, helped pave the way to World War II and has since been obscured by Western historiography and popular culture.
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About the Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs
The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Hosted by Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the eminent thought-leader in economics and sustainable development, the Book Club features monthly interviews with renowned authors about their ground-breaking work in history, social justice, sustainable development, and more.
