Joseph Stalin

Leading Lives

by David Downing

Chronicles the youth, rise to power, and dictatorial reign of the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin.

Genres: History, Biography

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

David Downing is the author of a political thriller, two alternative histories and a number of books on military and political history and other subjects as diverse as Neil Young and Russian Football.

Reviews

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to Stalin and his social/economical reforms to the Soviet Union. While the book mentions his cruelty, paranoid reign of terror it doesn't go into specifics and presents the information in as unbiased a way as possible. For a better understanding students should not have this be their only resource.

[Shivek Bhanote · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like topics about what happened during the wars. I already knew a little bit about Stalin but I learned a lot from this book. It tells his feelings while he did things, so we understand to know what type of person he is.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short biography of a famous leader.

I found this book fascinating - detailing many of the key events in his life and times.

Reading time around one hour.

[Carolyn Lockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are good. Otherwise, it 2as just okay.