Stalin cover art

Stalin

The Court of the Red Tsar

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Stalin

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
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About this listen

Winner of the British Book Awards History Book of the Year

Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize

This thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar.

Based on groundbreaking research, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals in captivating detail the fear and betrayal, privilege and debauchery, family life and murderous cruelty of this secret world. Written with extraordinary narrative verve, this magnificent feat of scholarly research has become a classic of modern history writing. Showing how Stalin's triumphs and crimes were the product of his fanatical Marxism and his gifted but flawed character, this is an intimate portrait of a man as complicated and human as he was brutal and chilling.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2003 Simon Sebag Montefiore (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Historical Military & War Russia Stalin War Soviet Union Imperialism Scary Military Thought-Provoking Socialism

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Critic reviews

Horrific, revelatory and sobering ... triumph of research and should be required reading in Russia. Book of the Year (John Le Carre)
This grim masterpiece, shot through with lashes of black humour ... The personal details are riveting (Antonia Fraser)
Fascinating ... [Montefiore] concentrates, as any good historian should, on pushing forward the boundaries of our knowledge of the subject ... [He] provides rich detail of daily life and family relationships in a world of human values turned inside out ... scrupulously fair in the way he describes Stalin's qualities - including his ability to charm, his uncanny grasp of geopolitical issues, his brilliant handling of foreign statesmen and his genuine passion for literature (Antony Beevor)
All stars
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A brilliant, insightful and entertaining history of Stalin. This farcical and utterly terrifying era of revolutionary Russia serves as a warning to us all

A must listen

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excellent book very well related. fascinating if repellant characters . Interesting facts and historic facts

Fascinating history

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A new insight into one of the 20th century 's worst villains. Read how he built up and then destroyed a long list of comrades and family whilst running one of the world's largest empires.

Riveting

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A long journey through the unbelievably cruel, but clever, life of Joseph Stalin. Long, but worth listening to.

Detailed, well researched, fascinating

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Long but worth every word . Light shines into a time some of us lived through and those that did not should read this book. Wonderfully written and immensely well researched.

Great book

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An absolutely chilling and aweinspiring book about Stalin and the people closest to him. One of the best books I've read. Fantastic work!

Brilliant

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Entertaining yet inaccurate on number of points. In some cases author did not crosscheck evidence. One example: conversation between Zhukov, Vasilevsky and Stalin about "some other" ways to solve Stalingrad "problem" never happened. It is pure fiction of Zhukov in his memoirs in an attempt to grab some fame from successful "Uran" operation while "Mars" under his command was drowned in blood. Proof: Records of Stalin's daily visitor's journal. Zhukov or Vasilevsky did not visit Stalin on the date, before or after it.

entertaining

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Starts slowly, but builds a tremendously rich picture of life in Stalin's inner circle. Shocking, at times comical, and always interesting.

Fascinating

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A great book, very well written, brilliantly narrated and I would definitely recommend this 📚 book.

Very interesting 🧐 and enlightening

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An utterly unique character, well captured. I tried the Romanovs by the same author and didnt enjoy it nearly as much as this.

Worthwhile

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