Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore (or the Stalin biography of your choice) (April/May 2020)

[Judy]

I see that The Life and Death of Trotsky by Robert Payne is 99p in today's Bookbub - I believe this was originally published in 1977.

[Jill]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I'm finding myself fascinated by Svetlana and wonder if anyone's read more about her? There is a biography [book:Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva|2263..."

Like you I would be interested in her time in Russia but after that less so.

[Nigeyb]

Svetlana is interesting to me too - I believe she wrote an autobiography too. From what little I know of her biography it sounds as though she had a long and interesting life

[Jan C]

Haaze wrote: "Jan C wrote: "I read The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 some years ago."

Ah, I'm impressed! :) Did you enjoy and/or appreciate the experience?"

I appreciated it, not sure it could be called enjoyable. The 2 volumes must have been 1500-2000 pages. I read it when it came out here, possibly First Editions.

[Roman Clodia]

Nigeyb wrote: "Svetlana is interesting to me too - I believe she wrote an autobiography too. From what little I know of her biography it sounds as though she had a long and interesting life"

SS-M does comment on her memoir and what she misses out. She had 4 husbands - not surprising given her emotional bringing, perhaps.

[Nigeyb]

I've researched a bit on her books and other books about her life and concluded that....


Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva

...is probably the best place to start. It's quite possibly the only biography the casual reader would want or need too

[Roman Clodia]

Finished - and what a book! I'm so glad I was tempted into reading this. Perversely, I'm sort of missing Stalin... My review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3301120472

[Nigeyb]

What a magnificent review Roman Clodia


You've really nailed the book's scope and its strengths

[Roman Clodia]

It would have been so easy to write a book which just portrayed Stalin as a monster, but SSM captures a more nuanced and complex picture, without in any way downplaying the paranoia and the unquestionable terrors of his regime.

Wasn't that final chapter/epilogue amazing where people, some his victims, still defended and valorised him?

[Nigeyb]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Wasn't that final chapter/epilogue amazing where people, some his victims, still defended and valorised him?"

Absolutely. A perfect way to draw the biography to a close. And remarkable how some people are still so unapologetically supportive

[Jill]

I have had to break from reading this as I was getting so far behind with my other group reads, but I am still very interested in it. My mother-in law was Latvian and so held very strong views about Stalin. Her school friends and neighbours started disappearing, and so the family left Latvia, leaving behind their farm, home and pets. Taking only what they could carry. Obliviously, her view of the Russians and Stalin in particular was very biased.

[Roman Clodia]

Jill wrote: "her view of the Russians and Stalin in particular was very biased."

Understandably so!

[Susan]

As with Jill, I fell behind with this, because I was so behind with group reads and review books. I have returned to it now, still really enjoying it and I am up to the first show trial.

[Nigeyb]

It's easy to pick back up again


I'm pleased to discover you're still enjoying it Susan

[Susan]

Yes, very much. I was intrigued by the mention of poisoned book pages, but this has now been revealed!

Do we think the situation might have been better, or worse, had not those in power been so wrapped up in each other - living together, holidaying together, visiting each other constantly? It seems an unhealthy environment, with the possibilities for intrigue at worst, gossip and personal dislikes to fester, at best.

[Roman Clodia]

It reminded me of Henry VIII's court, with the intrigues and gossip which emerge when people live so closely together. In Stalin's case, too, intimacy doesn't preclude disaster. There's also that sense of having fought through something together: Stalin knows the early circle from revolutionary circles and prison; just as Henry's father gathered his court together from those who had fought on his side in the War of the Roses. And both believe they're presiding over a new and better world, Bolshevik and Tudor.

[Nigeyb]

That's a great parallel RC - and one that I hadn't considered before however, as you suggest, the similarities are striking

[Susan]

I agree, it is very like a Court, isn't it? So many inter-relationships and links...