Historian Robert Conquest, who documented horrors of Stalin's Soviet regime, dies at 98

SAN FRANCISCO – British-born historian Robert Conquest, whose influential works on Soviet history shed light on the terror during the Stalin era, has died. He was 98.

Conquest's wife, Elizabeth Neece, said he died Monday of pneumonia in Palo Alto, California.

Conquest was the author of 21 books on Soviet history, politics and international affairs. His "The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties," which documented the purges of dictator Josef Stalin in the 1930s, remains one of the most influential studies of Soviet history.

Published in 1968, the book estimated that under Stalin, 20 million people died in labor camps, executions and famines. It has been translated into more than 20 languages.

"Robert Conquest set the gold standard for careful research, total integrity, and clarity of expression about the real Soviet Union," said George P. Shultz, a former secretary of state and Hoover Institution distinguished fellow.

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