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Stalin cover art

Stalin

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrated by: John Nettles
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Summary

There have been many biographies of Stalin, but the court that surrounded him is untravelled ground. Simon Sebag Montefiore, acclaimed biographer of Catherine the Great's lover, prime minister, and general, Potemkin, has unearthed the vast underpinning that sustained Stalin. Not only ministers such as Molotov or secret service chiefs such as Beria, but men and women whose loyalty he trusted only until the next purge.
©2003 Simon Sebag Montefiore (P)2004 Orion Publishing Group Ltd.

Critic reviews

"A marvellously racy, gossipy study, based on immense research." ( Evening Standard)

What listeners say about Stalin

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb and horrifying biography

It is said that history is written by the victors of wars and certainly the crimes perpetrated by Stalin and his repressive regime took years to be revealed. I was aware that Stalin’s policies had caused the deaths of many millions of his citizens and that he easily equalled Hitler in his heinous crimes. However, this outstanding and engrossing biography of Stalin’s reign of terror was a revelation to me as it documented his extreme paranoia and at times bungling incompetence and how he got away with it by keeping his acolytes in a state of fear that they would too would be executed on trumped up charges. I hadn’t realised the sheer scale of reprisals against those who served with him and their families. It must have been a frightening time to be near this despot. It’s depressing that history keeps repeating itself and how how uncurbed power in the end corrupts.

The book is a great listen as pacy as a crime thriller and the narrator is good.
Highly recommended.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Communist, fascist an equality in monstrosity.


Stalin is a monster as deprave and human as Hitler was, they both loved the power and the implementation of their ideas more than humans or individuals.
“Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don't let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”
― Joseph Stalin
“Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.”
― Joseph Stalin
We castigate anyone that wears a brown shirt and use the fascist salute but people still vote for people that consider this man a hero openly; they should be as shameful and repulsive as fascists, to believe in a system that wherever it has been imposed it has brought death and inequality in industrial levels, Communism is a dirty word smeared with death, blood and betrayal of the proletariat in the name of the state and Stalin was one of it prophets and disciples of death unashamedly so.

“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
― Joseph Stalin
“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”
― Joseph Stalin
“People who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
― Joseph Stalin

And the perfect Orwellian example of doublethink:

“...[I]ron discipline does not preclude but presupposes criticism and contest of opinion within the Party. Least of all does it mean that discipline must be blind. On the contrary, iron discipline does not preclude but presupposes conscious and voluntary submission, for only conscious discipline can be truly iron discipline.”
― Joseph Stalin

This is a good book to put the first toe into a cold lake of blood and terror, a mild expose of evil and a restrained in its descriptions if anything it errs with Stalin into seeing it all too much as statistics and not crimes of individual horror.

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Too abridged?

This read for me too much like a chronicle of events without much interpretation or fleshing out of the characters.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well read, but grim subject matter

This is a well written and performed account of the Stalin era purges.

That said, it is a bit grim and relentless - as you might expect from the subject matter, but unlike (say) ancient history, these events feel closer to home due to their relative recency.
Be warned, that , while not described in particularly gory terms , the real life events outlined are tough to hear about.

John Nettles is excellent at narrating the book and it is well laid out....
...but in the end, the unremitting grimness as yet another person (or million people) is purged rather detracts and you may find yourself, like me, not wishing to listen any more.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • J
  • 22-05-17

What an insight into the court of Stalin

An account of the leadership of Soviet Union after Lenin. A ghastly look into the degenerate behaviour of a leader whose impact on the lives of millions of human beings will leave most in awe. Few can understand the complex webs that those in power weave, this book helps to piece together an angle and viewpoint of that era

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Superb

I've listened to this audio book numerous times (4 at the last count.) John Nettles narrates it quite brilliantly and is so thoroughly engaging, it's a pleasure to listen to even on repeat visits.

Highly recommended. It's a shame Mr Nettles doesn't narrate 'The Romanovs.'

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best book on Stalin

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The audiobook is like a soap opera, the dynamics of stalin and his court and fantastic.

What did you like best about this story?

A real insight into Stalin, the old bolsheviks and the upper echelons of the soviet state.

What does John Nettles bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

An amazing narration. Top notch!

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The greatest real soap opera of our time

Any additional comments?

Cant recommend this book enough, there are alot of characters but this is not overwhelming.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely loved this book, more of a !!

Montefiore returns to form after his awful fiction book. Fantastic story of Stalin and his magnates brought to life by a brilliant narration by John Nettles.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Masterly

An easy though harrowing way to get familiar with Stalin and his atrocities. An extraordinary tale told with erudition plus panache.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

My first book on Stalin and a perfect introduction

What made the experience of listening to Stalin the most enjoyable?

Not massively detailed, instead introduced me to all the main charachters giving me something to follow up on in many areas. Narration was not overtly ácted out which'I prefer.

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