Fifty years after his death, Stalin remains a figure of powerful and dark fascination. The almost unfathomable scale of his crimes-as many as 20 mi...
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Aug 04, 2008
Harry
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This is a biography of Stalin, focussed on his domestic life and the tightly-knit group of people around him: his own family, and politicians, bodyguards, and their families.
As a piece of history, it's very impressive. It's clearly the result of a huge amount of research by Montefiore: he seems to have personally interviewed just about every living relative of the major figures, quite apart from the endless reading of archives and memoirs that must have been involved. As a casual rea More...
As a piece of history, it's very impressive. It's clearly the result of a huge amount of research by Montefiore: he seems to have personally interviewed just about every living relative of the major figures, quite apart from the endless reading of archives and memoirs that must have been involved. As a casual rea More...
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Mar 29, 2009
Maria
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This book was so gruesome that I could barely read a chapter a day. Stalin's fifties are best described as specializing in ignoring truth. An ostrich with its head buried in the sand had nothing on Stalin. His incompetent management of World War II was truly awful, and his disloyalty and manipulation of friends and their families to their deaths was unbelievable. All in all, he personifies the boss no one wants to work for.
Credited with nearly 20 million deaths (I don't think t More...
Credited with nearly 20 million deaths (I don't think t More...
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Feb 12, 2009
Mike
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Powerful, shocking and terrible. Anyone interested in politics or history should read this book. It is humbling to think how fortunate we all are who are free to read this that we do not live in the world described. With the slow accumulation of detail and careful analysis it creates an overwhelming impact conveying that this is the truth about an era of lies, about a political system whose external image was carefully and deliberately constructed exclusively of lies. It describes a world in wh
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Mar 31, 2007
Tyler
rated it:
Some of the 20th century's greatest monsters finally get the celebrity gossip treatment they so richly deserve...
A delicious stew of new documents and speculations, Stalin:TCOFTRS is the first actual bio ever produced on Stalin and his inner circle. Its an intensive, often meandering study of the inconsequential, smaller than life moments of an unbelievably private and powerful group. Its also entertaining as hell.
A favorite tabloid-esque nugget: the Stalinist Terror wa More...
A delicious stew of new documents and speculations, Stalin:TCOFTRS is the first actual bio ever produced on Stalin and his inner circle. Its an intensive, often meandering study of the inconsequential, smaller than life moments of an unbelievably private and powerful group. Its also entertaining as hell.
A favorite tabloid-esque nugget: the Stalinist Terror wa More...
Jan 29, 2012
Clear_enGlish
rated it:
As close as we will get to Stalin.
Horror.... Stalin's circle were often good fathers, jolly friends and good company.
When on Party business they variously took personal part in atrocity and blithely orchestrated the cold blooded murder of millions of their own citizens.
Then they went home to be loving family men, that is until they fell into the meat grinder themselves. I groan with the horror and brutality. Coldly I realise that future monsters will read these lines looking fo More...
Horror.... Stalin's circle were often good fathers, jolly friends and good company.
When on Party business they variously took personal part in atrocity and blithely orchestrated the cold blooded murder of millions of their own citizens.
Then they went home to be loving family men, that is until they fell into the meat grinder themselves. I groan with the horror and brutality. Coldly I realise that future monsters will read these lines looking fo More...
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Dec 13, 2011
Jonfaith
rated it:
Christmas time is a tricky time for my friends and relatives. Only the intrepid make moves to buy books, films and music without my preapproval. My friend Ed bought me a book, a memoir, which I had previusly found for a quarter and considered myself cheated at that price. I returned his book and selected this among the meager offerings at the local independent book store; I should qualify that the independent stores across the river are not provincial nor meager but the one here is, despite my b
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Oct 20, 2010
Hobbes
rated it:
What sets this book apart is the personal details it includes. It is clearly the product of prodigious research; the author appears to have read every book and memoir that even touches on his subject, and to have interviewed every person that didn't write a book. It gives a real look at the life of those in Stalin's inner circle after his ascension to power and of course, the life of Stalin himself.
Though sometimes touted as a biography, Stalin: tCotRT is most certainly not that. It More...
Though sometimes touted as a biography, Stalin: tCotRT is most certainly not that. It More...
Oct 23, 2007
Holly
rated it:
A clear-eyed assessment of Stalin's reign. Montefiore is neither an apologist nor a conspiracy theorist, and his assessment of Stalin's crimes struck me as being very well-researched and non-partisan. Though it does sometimes read like the Zagat Guide to Stalin (lots of sentences with a single word in quotes), it was informative and well-structured. Certainly recommended for anyone who would like to know more about this era in Soviet history.
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Dec 29, 2010
Elizabeth
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I was hoping this book would be more general interest; it presumes more knowledge of Soviet history than I have. But with the help of Wikipedia, I was able to get up to speed. The accounts of Stalin's power and the Terror (capital T indeed) are frightening. Stalin's assessments of Hitler and views on the war are interesting, but it is odd thinking of these two men fighting one another--which one was more paranoid and evil. It's a hard choice.
The book allows the reader to see Stalin More...
The book allows the reader to see Stalin More...
Feb 11, 2010
Alex
rated it:
One of the most thorough, well researched and readable histories I’ve come across. The book deliver’s exactly what it says, a history of Stalin’s court and does so in extreme detail, drawing from a wide variety of sources. The author’s pacing and humorous comments are top notch.
The downside of this book is that the content is so focused, that it rarely attempts to put many of the events into broader perspective, sticking only to the intrigues of Stalin’s inner circle without del More...
The downside of this book is that the content is so focused, that it rarely attempts to put many of the events into broader perspective, sticking only to the intrigues of Stalin’s inner circle without del More...
Aug 17, 2008
Mandie
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Jan 29, 2012
Lee
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What makes this book stand out for me is the detail of day to day life in the centre of power of the Stalinist regime at that time. Yes, at times there are an almost overwhelming amount of names that flow towards the reader, but even if you let many of those flow past you like I did on my first read through, what remains is the sense of intimacy with the characters involved.
Interviews with survivors, children of officials and archival evidence provide a shocking picture of how even the More...
Interviews with survivors, children of officials and archival evidence provide a shocking picture of how even the More...
Aug 12, 2011
Gainerm
rated it:
In this dense political biography - one could, of course, argue that it would be impossible to write anything but about one of the 20th century's most thoroughly political figures - Montefiore makes good use of the now-reclosed Russian government archives to create a portrait of an obsessive, manipulative Joseph Stalin who could simultaneously charm and terrify both commoners and world leaders alike. We get a detailed look at the dictator's many facades - poet, general, movie critic, father, pol
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Jun 20, 2011
Amélie
rated it:
J'ai une appréciation assez, euhm, chambranlante? des biographies, alors faut dire que j'ai pas commencé cette lecture avec la meilleure des dispositions. Mais! Comme j'avais entendu des tonnes de choses élogieuses sur ce livre, & comme ça fait à peu près huit mois que mon copain me harcèle jour & nuit pour que je le lise, j'ai fini par m'y plonger.
& c'est pas une biographie au sens strict, je crois. On suit Staline, oui, mais à peu près seulement à partir de la fin des années vingt, More...
& c'est pas une biographie au sens strict, je crois. On suit Staline, oui, mais à peu près seulement à partir de la fin des années vingt, More...
Oct 21, 2009
Steve
rated it:
I don't know. I may need something lighter -- and soon!
Update: I may write some more on this later. At times fascinating, heartbreaking, but also at times boring read. Montefiore has all kinds of juicy gossip, due to the opening up of old Soviet archives. He takes the new material and attaches it to the history of the period. It works well -- up until WW 2, and then he has to cover a lot of big events quickly -- and this in a 650 page book! When Montefiore gets to WW 2, I sensed a More...
Update: I may write some more on this later. At times fascinating, heartbreaking, but also at times boring read. Montefiore has all kinds of juicy gossip, due to the opening up of old Soviet archives. He takes the new material and attaches it to the history of the period. It works well -- up until WW 2, and then he has to cover a lot of big events quickly -- and this in a 650 page book! When Montefiore gets to WW 2, I sensed a More...
Nov 24, 2009
Katie
rated it:
The trouble with a really good book is that eventually you finish it. Even one that's 700 pages long. After that, your life is basically over. That's what's wrong with this one.
We learned precisely jack about Soviet history in school. Aside from the propaganda they ladled out, which was pretty short on recognizable facts. One is left educating oneself, and this is the best the TCL could do on the subject of "show trials" and "Great Terror." I still don't kno More...
We learned precisely jack about Soviet history in school. Aside from the propaganda they ladled out, which was pretty short on recognizable facts. One is left educating oneself, and this is the best the TCL could do on the subject of "show trials" and "Great Terror." I still don't kno More...
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Jan 11, 2011
Tom
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An excellent biography on Stalin's rule of Russia. It's important to note that this is not a biography of his entire life, only rule, although there is some historical information presented.
It's easy to see that Montefiore has undertaken an incredible amount of research, especially with the newly opened Soviet archives, allowing him unprecedented access to the daily life of one of history's most ruthless tyrants. He presents in a way that you are a fly on the wall at some of the most More...
It's easy to see that Montefiore has undertaken an incredible amount of research, especially with the newly opened Soviet archives, allowing him unprecedented access to the daily life of one of history's most ruthless tyrants. He presents in a way that you are a fly on the wall at some of the most More...
Jul 18, 2010
Charlie
rated it:
Utilizing the sources of information that only became available in the 1990s, Montefiore profiles the revolutionary leaders of the Soviet Union and their incredible accomplishments (for good or ill). Stalin's rise, the suicide of his wife, the kulaks, the surreality of the purges, the heroic defense against the savagery of the Third Reich, it's all here. For example, those who have read with interest over the years of certain historical events, such as the Katyn Forest incident, will find chap
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Aug 23, 2010
Derek
rated it:
This is the first biography that i ever read about Stalin. The author seems very knowledgeable and based the book on personal interviews with some of Stalin's associates, their wives, and children. A lot of it also comes from KGB files that were rather recently released.
I would recommend this book, but I had to have a notebook to keep track of some names, foreign words, and even some English words with which I was unfamiliar (about 25 through out the book), a good example being " More...
I would recommend this book, but I had to have a notebook to keep track of some names, foreign words, and even some English words with which I was unfamiliar (about 25 through out the book), a good example being " More...
Jan 08, 2009
Roger
rated it:
A most revealing history of one of the 20th Century's monsters. Picks up Stalin in the early 1930s and brings you not only into his world but also the world of all of his cronies. Ruthless, a bully, had an aura about him, and a firm understanding of human nature, he ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist. Enjoyed the luxeries of power while his people were starving. I was absorbed by the author's details and easy reading style. Highly recommend to anyone who wants to understand the history
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May 26, 2011
Peter Simpson
rated it:
It comes with an appraisal from none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, so it must be good! He said 'The book I have enjoyed most over the past year was Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. It was eye-opening. How he managed to kill probably 30 or 40 million people and conceal it is unbelievable'.
I think that might give some impression where Fergie gets his inspiration from for his management techniques!
It's a very good read though. Most of the time I use history books for reference a More...
I think that might give some impression where Fergie gets his inspiration from for his management techniques!
It's a very good read though. Most of the time I use history books for reference a More...
Nov 09, 2009
David
rated it:
A fascinating and terrifying account of a monster and his cronies, who managed to cause more suffering than just about anyone else in history. His young wife killed herself early on, which Montefiore identifies as a key turning point in the downward spiral of his character, but it was hardly a good excuse. His one redeeming feature in terms of political history is that he faced and defeated another monster, Hitler. The world is better off without the Soviet Empire, and the whole book is a lesson
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Dec 09, 2010
Little Man
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 29, 2011
Filip
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Just to be clear, this great read is not really a biography of Stalin. His early years as a Bolshevik aren't covered, and often more attention is given to the "Soviet aristocracy" families surrounding him, justifying the subtitle "the Court of the Red Tsar".
The book relies on a lot of research and interviews with the last survivors of that period. It paints a horrifying picture of the ruthlessness with which internal politics (the Terror) and external politics (Molotov/Ribbe More...
The book relies on a lot of research and interviews with the last survivors of that period. It paints a horrifying picture of the ruthlessness with which internal politics (the Terror) and external politics (Molotov/Ribbe More...
Jul 24, 2011
Emmanuel
rated it:
A biographer of Stalin has to achieve a difficult balance. A good biography should give us a personal insight in its subject. But on the other hand, given that Stalin killed millions of people, the reader may not really care to discover that he was also a less than ideal husband and father. Simon Sebag Montefiore has chosen to tell us a lot about Stalin's personal life, but also to reflect on the politics of the period. A disturbing picture emerges of a close-knit bolshevik leadership whose life
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Jul 01, 2010
Raghu
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I read this book as Montefiore is a 'Stalin scholar' and because it has been written after the Soviet archives of the Stalin era was thrown open to researchers. The book is exhaustively researched and is pretty lengthy. A lot of the book deals with the 'personal' lives of the Soviet elite during the 1930s and the 1940s. The writing style is a bit laborious and so a substantial part of the book, dealing with Stalinist elite's private lives, is hard to keep reading seriously. However, the book pre
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Sep 14, 2008
Ushore
rated it:
Relying on newly available Soviet archives and the author’s contact with children and grandchildren of some of the main “players”, this book promised to be one of those truly revealing works that appear just a few times every century: a genuine, bona fide scoop. That’s probably why I found the beginning of “Stalin – the Court of the Red Tsar” so abysmal – and the beginning runs to over 100 pages, some nine chapters, or so.
The book starts in classic Hollywood death-of-an-epoch bloc More...
The book starts in classic Hollywood death-of-an-epoch bloc More...
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Apr 26, 2008
Siria
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It is a massive book, both in scope and in terms of the sheer size of the book (even in paperback, it's well over 700 pages long). There is no question but that Sebag-Montefiore has done his research, especially in terms of the primary sources he employs, the places he visited, and the people interviewed. But the lack of footnotes in the paperback edition is still jarring. They are omitted for reasons of space; but with so much new material used, so many quotes cited, and just for general histor
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Feb 07, 2009
Kent
rated it:
I don't envy the historian his job. It must be excruciatingly tedious to wade through government archives, personal letters, diaries, unpublished memoirs, minutes of bureaucratic meetings, departmental reports, military inventory lists, etc., in search of the telling detail. The dreariness of the task might account for the arduous, musty tone of so much academic writing. Happily, Simon Sebag Montefiore does not write like an academic. Sadly, Simon Sebag Montefiore is a really bad writer.
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Feb 07, 2009
Bill
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This is an amazing book, where the author, Simon Sebag-Montefiore, gets behind the scenes during the dramatic life of Stalin post-revolution.
There is a lot of shocking, systematic violence in this book.
This book reads as well as any novel, and is an incisive and startling portrait of one of the greatest charismatic leaders in the 20th century. If you like biographies of important, decisive figures with compelling personality disorders you won't be disappointed with this
There is a lot of shocking, systematic violence in this book.
This book reads as well as any novel, and is an incisive and startling portrait of one of the greatest charismatic leaders in the 20th century. If you like biographies of important, decisive figures with compelling personality disorders you won't be disappointed with this
