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Lenin the Dictator

An Intimate Portrait

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Lenin the Dictator

By: Victor Sebestyen
Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
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About this listen

Victor Sebestyen's intimate biography is the first major work in English for nearly two decades on one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. In Russia, to this day, Lenin inspires adulation. Everywhere he continues to fascinate as a man who made history and who created a new kind of state that would later be imitated by nearly half the countries in the world.

Lenin believed that 'the political is the personal', and while in no way ignoring his political life, Sebestyen's focus will be on Lenin the man - a man who loved nature almost as much as he loved making revolution and whose closest ties and friendships were with women. The long-suppressed story of his ménage a trois with his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and his mistress and comrade, Inessa Armand, reveals a different character to the coldly one-dimensional figure of legend. Told through the prism of Lenin's key relationships, Sebestyen's lively biography casts a new light the Russian Revolution, one of the great turning points of modern history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

©2017 Victor Sebestyen (P)2017 Orion Publishing Group Ltd Politics & Activism Politics & Government Presidents & Heads of State Russia Imperialism Socialism Soviet Union War Capitalism

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All stars
Most relevant
Well written and researched, Lenin was an appalling dictator who set the stage for what was to come for the next 100 years in Russia

Excellent book, well read

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Great story with perfect level of detail - not too much to make it boring and not too little to make it too casual

Impressive Package

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I have always been fascinated by the Russian Revolution, which would not have ended the way it did without Lenin. This was a very detailed account of the man who started the Communist Cancer that has spread throughout the world in one form or another.

I was quite surprised to learn of the sheer brutality of the Tsarist regime, and how implicated Nicholas was. If you want a deep dive into the man revered and loved by so many and equally hated - this is the book.

Deep Dive Into Lenin

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Brilliant from start to finish. I could not put this book down and raced through it!

Amazing!

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I thought this was a very interesting account of Lenin's life, I learned so much. His wife Nadezhda was a very special kind of lady who stood by Lenin until the end, and I could see how much Lenin loved and respected his wife. In principal I think the communist idea was a good one for equality and a much fairer system to all, sadly it became a brutal totalitarian rule of fear, which hurt the Russian people even more. It involved too much loss of life and the murder of Nicholas II and his family was so sad. It's an interesting piece of history and I am very much drawn to the history of Russia. I also recommend Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore and also an excellent novel called The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili, it was actually this novel that flared up my interest in Russia, and since then I have listened to so many on Audible. I thank the author Victor Sebestyen for his meticulous research and hard work in writing this book, and to Jonathan Aris for reading this so well. An enjoyable read. 📚

Lenin's Life, an Interesting Piece of History

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