Koba drama was written in 1958-59 by Raymond Williams

Raymond Williams

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...

. It was published in the 1966 edition of Modern Tragedy. The 1979 edition of Modern Tragedy does not include it.

The play involves fictitious characters, but parallels the life of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

. Characters include Peter, Max and George, along with Joseph - later Koba - and Jordan, based on Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

. It takes a mixed view of the Stalin-character:

LUKE: What we have really to face is how all this happened, how we became strong.
MARK: It was not only Koba. In many ways he made us weaker.
LUKE: But in other ways stronger.
(Act Two, Scene VII).

Raymond Williams

Raymond Williams

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...

's later thoughts on the play and the wider question of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 can be found in Politics and Letters

Politics and Letters: Interviews with New Left Review

Politics and Letters is critic Raymond Williams's own account of his life and work. The book is based series of interviews given by to the magazine New Left Review and was published in 1979....

; Part V, Chapter 3.