He ruled with an iron fist, treating his people like grist for the mill of power and threatening the world with his expansionist fantasies. One of the most influential and notorious leaders of the 20th century, he was likely also the greatest murderer of history, sending an estimated 20 million people to their deaths. STALIN: MAN OF STEEL is a multi-faceted portrait of the man who succeeded Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union. With a captivating blend of period documents, newly-released information, newsreel and archival footage and interviews with experts, the program examines his rise to power, deconstructs the cult of personality that helped him maintain an iron grip over his vast empire, and analyzes the policies he introduced, including the deadly expansion of the notorious gulags where he banished so many of his countrymen to certain death