Stalin (CD): The Court of the Red Tsar [Abridged] [Audiobook] [CD] (Audio CD)

There are many tales about the monstrous Yeshov and the chilling Beria, who was not a committed communist at all, and how unrestrained they could indulge in their sadism and depravities. Both came to bad ends. The story of Molotov is told and how his wife was exiled by Stalin and then re-united with her husband after the dictator's death. Molotov and his wife only survived because of Stalin's demise. Kruschev is another court crony who is far from unblemished. There are many insights into how these bureaucratic murderers were often kind and tender to their wives and children, yet so desperate when out of favour with the leader that they would betray their families, sometimes, in a supreme irony, in order to save them but always to try and save themselves. The book teems with anecdotes revealing the reactions of the courtiers when caught in Stalin's glare of hate.

The author does a commendable job at emphasising the dangers of tyrannical power and ideological fanaticism. He shows how the power and weakness of human nature in all its blood feasting lust and incredible displays of kindness and sympathy always prevails against ideology, both thwarting it and diminishing it. This beautifully written work is an excellent example of the many historical analyses that show how ideologues can only enforce their narrow, bigoted promises of some false nirvana through force and terror. It also shows how lunatics and evil come to power on the back of apologists, ideological sympathisers, cynical careerists and people who look the other way until the dark forces gain an unstoppable momentum that can usually only be ended by the death of the tyrants or war, often at the cost of the lives of millions of innocents.

The last chapter, simply a postscript, is surprising as it relates the attitudes of courtiers who survived and their descendants to the homicidal dictator. It is amazing to think that some of these sad victims can still make excuses for one of mankind's biggest killers. This has many parallels with the woolly, muddled and blind opinions we can still hear today in defence of vicious murdering tyrants. Stalin's useful fools indeed. The book is impeccably researched and the sources include living descendants of the players in the nightmare, Russian archives and other letters, documents and histories. The last 100 or so pages attribute these sources. It is very hard to fault this book but perhaps the editing is a little loose in places and some of the content could have been a bit tauter but apart from these extremely minor criticisms the book can be recommended wholeheartedly.

'Compelling' and 'fascinating' underplay the extent to which the incredible research is transformed into a novel-like history.

The stark reality and horror of this despicable tyrant's exploits are never underplayed or glossed over, and for the first time we can view the real characters of Stalin's cronies, particularly the hitherto ignored, and awful, Beria and Malenkov.

Montefiore's detail on Stalin draws the reader into being both fearful of the dominance of the man, but at the same time wanting to learn more and more about him, to the point where it becomes quite easy to understand the ordinary Soviet citizen's treatment of him as almost a God, lasting to the present day, even in light of his genocidal crimes against his own people.

By far the best book I have read on the subject and one of the best books on any subject, I have ever read.