Thus you have intense sections on the horrifying events of the Great Terror of 1937 (sometimes bowdlerised as the ‘Great Purge’ for those wanting to take attention away from the reality of mass political executions). He concentrates instead on the personalities of the key players in Stalin’s court, and the real-life consequences once their decisions are mobilised into action. Although the inner workings of the Soviet Politburo may sound less than scintillating to those easily bored by political machinations, Montefiore avoids becoming bogged down in the minutiae of policymaking. How did one man manage to retain an iron grip on the heart of the Soviet Union, and emerge with his authority intact following the harrowing events of the Second World War and the deaths of millions of Russian soldiers? This is what Montefiore’s book examines, providing many answers and insights.Īs with ‘Young Stalin’, the sequel is written using plenty of dialogue and usually compact chapters, giving it a novelistic feeling of immediacy that readers will find highly engaging. Having gained political power in his 30s, Stalin never lost it, and died following a stroke in 1953, at the relatively old age (for his time and circumstances) of 74. ‘Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar’ completes the story of his life. It culminated in his rise to influence under the leadership of Lenin following the October Revolution of 1917.

It painted a vivid picture of his childhood in a peasant family in Georgia. Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore’s ‘Young Stalin’ unearthed plenty of new research about the formative years of the world’s most famous Communist dictator.

Stalin simon sebag montefiore review