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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.©2003 Simon Sebag Montefiore Historical Military & War Russia Stalin War Soviet Union Imperialism Scary Thought-Provoking Military Socialism

Critic reviews

One of the two outstanding books of the year ... the most civilised and elegant chronicle of brutality and ruthlessness I have ever read, its prose cool and clear but never indifferent
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)
Have you read Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar? It's scarier than a Stephen King novel!
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)
Masterful and terrifying account of Stalin ... seldom has the picture been put in finer focus than by Sebag Montefiore. It is partly through his diligent interviews with the children of survivors and his admirable combination of history and gossip that one sees the awful banality, the brutal crudity of the men who carelessly sent so many millions to their senseless deaths
This magnificent portrait ... Montefiore has mined the rich veins of recent Russian writing on the Stalin age and of newly opened archives to give us an intimate history ... The stifling, contiguous life of the Soviet elite in and around the Kremlin is wonderfully conveyed, in some of the most striking and literary passages in the book ... A wonderfully rich and vibrant portrait of the Stalinist elite who lived in the shadow of a remarkable and dangerous colossus
Read it or face social Siberia ... a cross-over success. Academically and intellectually rigorous, it's also a riveting read ... it takes a great writer to make it seem fresh. And Sebag Montefiore certainly does that ... his greatest achievement has been to "humanise" Stalin. Uncle Joe was a mass murderer and a paranoid sociopath. But he was also charming, friendly and flirtatious (100 Best Things in the World Right Now)
Grimly brilliant (Andrew Marr)
Excellent ... This book is like a vast Russian novel full of characters, colour, terror, passion and treachery ... love affairs, marriages, divorces, imprisonments and killings (Susannah Tarbush)
Montefiore has managed to get inside the mind of the 20th century's worst mass murderer. What he has found there will affect your view of human nature ... a thoughtful book of first-class scholarship as well as a transfixing narrative ... vividly recreated by Montefiore's caustically witty prose (Andrew Roberts)
All stars
Most relevant
A well recounted and detailed history of a murderous regime that explains the paranoia that defines the Russian state. A shocking history that is woven into compulsive listening; how would the west ever consider an alliance with a regime that kills and tortures its own to such an extent? If you ever doubted Russophobia this will cure you!

Story of murder and dictatorship

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Beautifully written and narrated. The fascinating, frightening and shocking story of Stalin, his crimes and the cult of personality that kept him in power. A compelling historical account of the Terror, and the paranoia that fuelled the Doctors plot and the antisemitism behind it. Hard to believe that it happened in the 20th C even after the horrors of the Holocaust. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

Absolutely compelling

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Hard to keep with at times but extremely interesting when I could catch up. Attempted a drinking game whilst listening, I toke a drink every time someone was "liquidated" was hammered in minutes.

Great insight into the Soviet Uniom

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Ok... I'll admit that the "balanced" in the title is just something I think is true. But there are ways of determining such things which are better than just a readers prejudicial opinions yet worse than fully scientific. If there are untruths in this book, something which I doubt very much, they are most certainly either very well lied or written in ignorance. Only a single tiny point of regret, I think the author was a bit Anglo-critical when describing Churchill's second meeting with Stalin. Personally I think Churchill well and truly check mated Stalin in that discussion (when Stalin was shaming his guest for the absence of a second front).Here he comes off a bit as an obtuse child. Perhaps I'm wrong but I seem to recall a rather cool retort from Churchill. Anyway, really well written and researched... I'm in awe!

Great detail and a balanced historical view

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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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