Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Stalin
- The Court of the Red Tsar
- Narrated by: John Nettles
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Stalin
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
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.
Read by John Nettles
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Stalin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
The person reading the story
The whole story told with clarity and with emphasis on Stalin as a butcher but had some humanity giving money so some could have holidays then have others beaten and murdered
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jamie Wilkins
- 08-03-18
Superb
I've listened to this audio book numerous times (4 at the last count.) John Nettles narrates it quite brilliantly and is so thoroughly engaging, it's a pleasure to listen to even on repeat visits.
Highly recommended. It's a shame Mr Nettles doesn't narrate 'The Romanovs.'
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Susan
- 26-09-08
s
A vivid and interesting biography.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wras
- 02-11-17
Communist, fascist an equality in monstrosity.
Stalin is a monster as deprave and human as Hitler was, they both loved the power and the implementation of their ideas more than humans or individuals.
“Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don't let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”
― Joseph Stalin
“Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.”
― Joseph Stalin
We castigate anyone that wears a brown shirt and use the fascist salute but people still vote for people that consider this man a hero openly; they should be as shameful and repulsive as fascists, to believe in a system that wherever it has been imposed it has brought death and inequality in industrial levels, Communism is a dirty word smeared with death, blood and betrayal of the proletariat in the name of the state and Stalin was one of it prophets and disciples of death unashamedly so.
“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
― Joseph Stalin
“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”
― Joseph Stalin
“People who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
― Joseph Stalin
And the perfect Orwellian example of doublethink:
“...[I]ron discipline does not preclude but presupposes criticism and contest of opinion within the Party. Least of all does it mean that discipline must be blind. On the contrary, iron discipline does not preclude but presupposes conscious and voluntary submission, for only conscious discipline can be truly iron discipline.”
― Joseph Stalin
This is a good book to put the first toe into a cold lake of blood and terror, a mild expose of evil and a restrained in its descriptions if anything it errs with Stalin into seeing it all too much as statistics and not crimes of individual horror.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sally L
- 09-03-21
Fly on the wall view of Stalin's vicious court.
Fantastic, fascinating and horrifying insights into the environment in which Stalin and his fellow monsters bitched, drank and murdered their way through their rule.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- William Gilbert Riley
- 20-03-19
Brilliant !
gripping story of the monster that was Stalin, narration is superb and memorable - I intend to listen again!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- McKenna
- 05-02-18
Outstanding
Great narration for his finest book
Well told, thorough, insightful and a true insight into Stalin
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr S Bhatt
- 23-04-17
The best book on Stalin
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. The audiobook is like a soap opera, the dynamics of stalin and his court and fantastic.
What did you like best about this story?
A real insight into Stalin, the old bolsheviks and the upper echelons of the soviet state.
What does John Nettles bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
An amazing narration. Top notch!
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
The greatest real soap opera of our time
Any additional comments?
Cant recommend this book enough, there are alot of characters but this is not overwhelming.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- GORDON FRASER
- 18-01-17
Absolutely loved this book, more of a !!
Montefiore returns to form after his awful fiction book. Fantastic story of Stalin and his magnates brought to life by a brilliant narration by John Nettles.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Goronwy-Wyn
- 02-05-16
Fascinating
Written beautifully the book takes you on a journey around Stalin's life that if you had witnessed 1st hand you probably would not had survived.
There were many sections I re listened to amazed at the account.
Being born in 1960 our school education failed to explain this to our generation, a lot had not been revealed but this is one of the best accounts I've found so far.
John Nettles simply excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful