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Rasputin

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About this listen

 Winner of the Costa Biography Award

What makes a Stalin? Was he a Tsarist agent or Lenin's bandit? Was he to blame for his wife's death? When did the killing start?

Based on revelatory research, here is the thrilling story of how a charismatic cobbler's son became a student priest, romantic poet, prolific lover, gangster mastermind and murderous revolutionary. Culminating in the 1917 revolution, Simon Sebag Montefiore's bestselling biography radically alters our understanding of the gifted politician and fanatical Marxist who shaped the Soviet empire in his own brutal image. This is the story of how Stalin became Stalin.©2007 Simon Sebag Montefiore Historical Military Politics & Activism Presidents & Heads of State Russia Stalin Imperialism Soviet Union Socialism

Critic reviews

Montefiore brings Stalin to life
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An excellent account of the young Stalin. You can see that Simon Sebag Montefiore has meticulously researched all of the information for writing his book. I very much enjoyed learning about Stalin's young life, I'm always interested in psychology and human behaviour, to see what makes a person turn out the way that they do. I think what happens in your childhood can shape how you develop in your adult life. In this case I actually felt sorry for Stalin. I know he committed terrible crimes, but I think you lose some or maybe all of your empathy and regard for the value of human life if you have had a troubled childhood. I became interested in Russian 20th century history from reading The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili, a novel that encompasses the whole of the centuries history from 1900 until early 2000's, I also recommend. Something I will remember from this book is it's all about timing in life, if there had been no Bolsheviks party then Stalin would have lived a very different life, maybe a priest, who knows. I look forward to reading Stalin in power The Court of The Red Star next. And I thank Simon Sebag Montefiore for all of his research and writing this book, and enriching me in this knowledge, and Jonathan Aris for narrating the story so well. I highly recommend if you are interested in Russian 20th history and Stalin. 📚

An Excellent Account of Young Stalin's Life

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