Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar

This is a superb history of the Soviet Union and its bearing on the 20th century. It should be a history standard in our secondary schools; alas, history is no more considered an important subject in education. I cannot agree with those who have criticised the writing style. I found it an outstanding example of modern writing. My very sad conclusion is that this evil man was an ally of our country during the second world war. Read Sebag Montefiore and Solhzenitsyn and thank your god, if you have one, that you live in the free world.

Detailed (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book was hard work. I read it in bits and pieces, i between reading a few other books and maybe that is why it seemed like too much effort. That said I enjoyed it. Its very detailed, much of which I instantly forgot. I do not think it added anything to my understanding of Stalin, just gave me a more detailed account of life in his Court. Of course that is what the title says.

Like Stalin - impressive but dull. (0/0 people found this helpful)

I must agree with the other reviewers who have criticised this book. S S-M must have a lot of good friends in the medie judging by the generally positive reviews the papers gave to this tome. If ever a book needed a good editor, this is it. It reads (badly) like a string of anecdotes in no particular order. There is no organising theme, no narrative, no point. Yes, Stalin was a bad man. He wasn't very nice to his friends and family. Do we need 100s of pages of this? Impressive research (all his?), excruciating book.

5 stars for detail, 1 star for prose (7/8 people found this helpful)

I wholly agree with many reviewers that this book is not written in the most exciting of prose. It reads much more like a bland history/factual book. this is not a problem, if like myself, you're greatly interested in Soviet history. I can understand why some readers have found it hard going.
You cannot fault the author's attention to detail and depth of sources, though.
it's fascinating to read just how paranoid and unpleasant Stalin and the Soviet Union were; such as Stalin having many of his cronys' wives/relatives tortures/locked (and worse) while they were still part of his inner circle....
Left wing people will always find partial excuses for Stalin and the Soviet Union - 'it wasn't true communism', 'it wasn't all bad - he industrialised the USSR', 'they fought the Nazis' etc. This book doesn't really deal much with politics, but really the personalities; Stalin was just a really unpleasant man.
This is fortunately a history of dictator long dead, whose creed (communism) is universally acknowledged (now) to be a failure. The lessons for the future are still there - in an enviroment with a political/religious fanatical government a leader can emerge who behaves like Stalin, and rules by terror. 'The end justifies the means', 'These are emergency measures', 'But, at least the streets were safe from common criminals', were heard from foreign apologists on behalf of Stalin, as well as apartheid South Africa, Saddam, Mao and others.
The final part of the book, with details of what happened to Stalin's cronys after his death was fascinating. Some survived to Gorbachev's time or even the beginnings of the death of communism in 1989.

Enter the Viper's Nest (6/7 people found this helpful)

Mr Montefiore has produced a devastatingly lucid account of the lives of the Stalin and his Magnates without whom his (Stalin's) brutal rule over the Soviet Union could never have succeeded. The book is not only well well-researched but also well told. Mr Montefiore enlivens the often grisly tome with anecdotes on everything from Beria's love of pornography to Molotov's passionate relationship with his wife. He (Mr Montefiore) has acheived the near impossible; a scholarly account of history that is readable.

That Stalin could murder his own in-laws, imprison the wives of his closest aides (Molotov and Kalinin) on trumped-up charges and foster the deportation of 2.6 million of his own people with the collusion of his monstrous accomplices is a testament to the hold that he had on his Inner Circle. Mr Montefiore clearly illustrates this hynoptic effect in the book.

The book is long indeed but it is worthwhile. One may easily get confused by the long list of characters; Zhdanov, Malenkov, Molotov, Beria, Kalinin etc.

Was it just me or did anyone who read the book have the feeling that maybe, just maybe,Stalin and his coterie were psychopaths, who should have been confined to asylums long before they rose to power?

As one who has to work in Russia I am interested in recent Russian history. After reading Mr Montefiore's book I could not help feeling respect for the Russian people (and their Soviet satellites) for being able to bear such brutal dictatorship and yet, survive.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Reader Reviews:

Magnificent history lesson (0/0 people found this helpful)

Detailed (0/0 people found this helpful)

Like Stalin - impressive but dull. (0/0 people found this helpful)

5 stars for detail, 1 star for prose (7/8 people found this helpful)

Enter the Viper's Nest (6/7 people found this helpful)

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