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Young Stalin

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Young Stalin

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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Summary

 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.

Read by Sean Barrett

(p) 2007 Orion Publishing Group©2007 Simon Sebag Montefiore Historical Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Russia Russian & Soviet World Stalin Soviet Union Imperialism
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Critic reviews

Montefiore brings Stalin to life (Vince Cable)
Simon Sebag Montefiore's thrilling portrait of Stalin's youth ... A remarkable book ... Montefiore gives a brilliant account of the 1907 Tiflis heist ... the resulting scenes of mayhem were worthy of the De Niro and Pacino film HEAT (Michael Burleigh)
Should the life of a black-hearted ogre, a mass murderer ... be quite so entertaining? The story Montefiore has told requires the psychological penetration and social omniscience of a great novelist. Dickens once or twice peeps over the biographer's shoulder ... A racy, vivid biopic (Peter Conrad)
This picture of Stalin as a poet is one of the revelations of Simon Sebag Montefiore's macabrely fascinating YOUNG STALIN ... Stalin's life [is] worthy of Dumas ... Brilliantly drawn (Antonia Fraser)
Magnificent ... YOUNG STALIN is a masterpiece of detail. Sebag Montefiore has unearthed documents long lost in Georgian archives, found the descendants of Soso's friends and produced a vivid psychological portrait of this dangerous, alluring, enigmatic man ... This book moves with pace and authority (Michael Binyon)
A gripping read... Simon Sebag Montefiore's research ... is brilliant. The book provides a wealth of serious and scurrilous detail, creating a memorable portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest monsters (Antony Beevor)
An outstanding book, full of surprises. A rich and complex figure emerges from the new material Sebag Montefiore has unearthed in archives ... This book is a triumph of research and storytelling (Victor Sebestyen)
On practically every page of YOUNG STALIN, there is a reason to smile with satisfaction at the thrust of revelation, and often a reason to gasp or even to chuckle. As quasi-academic populist biography goes ... this is as good as it gets (Christopher Silvester)
Montefiore gives us a richly and fluently documented study of the chief terrorist in the making. His chapters have an anecdotal exuberance and factual novelty. It is an impressive work of examination (Robert Service)
Familiar material is transformed with fresh depth and detail. While magnificently entertaining, it reveals the complexity of historical conditions that forge revolutions and their leaders (Carol Rumens)
Outstanding ... It is hard to imagine how this account can be improved on. The narrative flows with insight and humour: YOUNG STALIN is a prequel that outshines even THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR (Donald Rayfield)
An enthralling but appalling account ... The author writes with panache, style and acerbic wit ... Paints a portrait of Stalin which is the most rounded we have in any language. A mass of contradictions, he is brilliantly brought to life in this superb biography (Martin McCauley)
YOUNG STALIN, like its predecessor, bubbles over like an erupting volcano. A better metaphor might be a Siberian snowstorm: the details glitter, and freeze the blood (Daniel Snowman)
All stars
Most relevant
Superb recent history of pre-revolution Stalin, from childhood up to October 1917. Based largely it seems on recently released archival material. Those Russkies kept records on everything and everyone. Stalin is revealed to be a far more interesting and human character from the cold fish terror of 'The Terror' and beyond. I had bought the second volume (The Court of the Red Tsar) first, thinking this is the Stalin I want to know about. Big Mistake which I realised about 10 minutes in. You need to know what comes before the 1930's purging Stalin, indeed what helps explain (as much as one can) the infectious paranoia of those times. The fascinating story of Stalin's early life may help.

The dialogue is fabulous, the narration is superb. Sean Barratt has one of the great documentary voices. Some knowledge of Russian history of this time might be useful, yet the brief sketches of Lenin , Trotsky and other major figures and events are probably enough. This is not a detailed history of Communism, more a tale of a model dictator and how he came to be. The scary thing is, at times you feel you could have liked him !

Good old Secret Police for keeping tabs !

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A tremendous insight and profile of the giant of Marxism that will inform the reader of the events that led through a twisted journey of Stalin’s rise, in put down able, switchgrass off the phone and get carried away to the rise of the revolution.Sean Bennet presents the narrative superbly.

Enthralling, put everything on hold and enjoy.

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Very clear and suitably sober narration. Effective abridgement. Enjoyed the story if not the man and his deeds.

Sturdy abridgement

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Young Stalin is really good. Simon Sebag Montefiore writes is such an eloquent way, one can read or listen to his pros for hours. I picked this up as a break from reading a much longer book and I am glad I did.

Young Stalin is the precursor to Court of the Red Tsar and follows the birth of the Georgian Iosef Djugashvili in 1878 and his growth into the Man of Steel: Stalin and his seizure of power in 1917. From questions over his paternity, an abusive father who died young, being flung into a monastery to train as a priest (which had the opposite effect and created the fanatic), womanising and abandoning children to becoming a terrorist and bank robber. Then finally massaging the ego of Vladimir Lenin and pulling power from the hands of Alexander Kerensky, this story is extremely action packed and exciting.

Essentially Stalin was not created, it was always there, a man with no real human connections, no sense of sentimentality or remorse. A lack of regard for human life, the revolution and Marxism was everything. It was nurtured in the strict Tibilsi Spiritual Seminary classes where he came into contact with other revolutionaries. Although the story is one of excitement, it was one of embarrassment, he missed fighting in the Great War due to his arm defect (the result of an accident with a carriage when he was child). He was a man who spent the war years in Siberia sitting around reading and dodging the draft before finally being rejected due to the disability anyway. For a man who saw himself as a soldier-politician this is only a minor detail, that he was not a solider? Nor was he an academic, but he was a ferocious reader and started with the revolutionary bible, What is to be Done? By Nioklay Chernyshevsky.

I really enjoyed this, it was unputdownable. It filled in gaps and rehashed forgotten memories I have of the story. It is something I will revisit again. The bank robbery in Tiflis is exciting and told like a thriller novel.

A note on this audible book: it is abridged and so I have read the full book as I feel this doesn’t do justice to the story.

How to Nurture a Monster

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Loved this book, really engaging insight into a brutal but fascinating character. I will be getting the Red Tsar by the same author to find out what happens next. It is well read by the narrator.

Brilliant

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