Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Simon Sebag Montefiore (Author), Jonathan Aris (Narrator), Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Publisher)

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Winner of the British Book Awards History Book of the Year.

Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.

This thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar.

Based on groundbreaking research, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals in captivating detail the fear and betrayal, privilege and debauchery, family life and murderous cruelty of this secret world. Written with extraordinary narrative verve, this magnificent feat of scholarly research has become a classic of modern history writing. Showing how Stalin's triumphs and crimes were the product of his fanatical Marxism and his gifted but flawed character, this is an intimate portrait of a man as complicated and human as he was brutal and chilling.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Listening Length

27 hours and 50 minutes
Author

Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrator

Jonathan Aris
Audible release date

25 July 2019
Language

English
Publisher

Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ASIN

B07STFYJFB
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	27 hours and 50 minutes
Author	Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrator	Jonathan Aris
Audible.com.au Release Date	25 July 2019
Publisher	Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07STFYJFB
Best Sellers Rank	1,519 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 5 in Russian History (Audible Books & Originals) 5 in Historical Russia Biographies 7 in History of Russia

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Howard Hilton

well written and easy to read

Reviewed in Australia on 30 August 2019

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I enjoy the writer and the period so for me and for most with those tastes it is very good

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margy moran

Stalin

Reviewed in Australia on 8 August 2021

Great book really enjoyed 10/10

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Top reviews from other countries

Adrian J. Smith

A masterful panorama of the Stalin years

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2018

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A gripping and truly masterful work. Simon Sebag Montefiore has put together a very adept, voluminous work of scholarship that is by far the most broadranging and far sighted work on Stalin that this reader has yet read (though still have yet to read Service's biography).
In the preface, Montefiore acknowledges his collaboration with the other masterful scholars of Stalinism, Robert Service and Oleg Khlevniuk, so this leads me to think of this book as not a competitor to the other masterful scholars, but rather a stand alone work to be read on its own merits, along with the other works.
So why read this, by far the lengthiest out of the aforementioned works, rather than the more concise offerings from Service or Khlevniuk? Because this is by far the most broad ranging panorama of Stalin's court. It entirely lives up to its title, it covers all the characters and intrigue of Stalin's court, so think of this work not so much as a biography (although it definitely is) and more of a panorama. In this sense, the strength of this work is the insight into all the other characters, giving perhaps the fullest picture of the politics of the Stalin era this reader has yet read.
The book itself is lengthy and challenging, and this was completed on my second attempt. It begins as something of a slow starter, and the covering of Stalin's terror is very detailed and becomes lengthy at times, but if one wants a complete picture, then one is unlikely to be disappointed.
In short a masterful work, confirming Simon Sebag Montefiore as one of the pre-eminent historians of the modern day.

23 people found this helpful

North Yorkshire

The life more than the times

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 December 2019

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As the title suggests this is a book about Stalin the man and his 'magnates' (big bosses like Molotov, Beria, Voroshilov, Yezhov, Kaganovich, and so on). These are the guys familiar (to dumb it all down a bit) from The Death of Stalin. Following on from the excellent 1st volume, this one runs from the 1920s through to Stalin's death and this covers collectivization, the Terror, and World War II. But with its focus on the big bosses the geopolitical aspects are a bit underplayed. The author writes well and it is probably my fault for being a dry old stick, but I wanted more of the big picture.

I expected to like this book more and I can't quite think why this solid, well researched and very well written book on a subject I am interested in didn't excite me. There is a good level of detail and I couldn't complain, given the title does explain exactly what's in it. But it did feel a bit claustrophobic and when the perspective widens (as in chapter 23 when the cultural scene is filled in) it felt much more engaging and informative. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Dikotter's excellently balanced books on Mao where the big perspective is so well integrated with the political and personal levels?

8 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 September 2020

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Everyone knows Stalin was an absolute monster. No better than the other dictators who rose in Europe in Germany, Italy and Spain during the early 20th Century. Despite vastly different political outlooks, when dictators arise, the outcome is always the same.

This is a story of a ruthless lunatic who ended up responsible for the deaths of millions including his own supporters. If there is one thing to be grateful for is that Russia bore the brunt of Nazi aggression and turned around the war which given that Stalin had purged the army of many of its officers is a miracle of some proportion.

Ian Kershaw's book about the period between WW 1 and 2 makes some very good points to read in conjunction with this. Horrendous decisions about the war reparations and the break up of old empires created unstable governments in the buffer countries between East and West so that when war arose, the people there suffered horrendously as one side then the other gained the upper hand. Neither treated the local people with either compassion or even consideration.

When politics breaks down and dictators arise, life becomes unbearable and unpredictable.

A highly recommended book

4 people found this helpful

JaguarJon53

Master manipulator - Stalin, murder and mayhem

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2019

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I knew about Stalin in a general way but not in this detail to this depth. The 1937 Terror was even worse than I realised. It continued throughout his life, even during and after the Great Patriotic War. He constantly played his fellow revolutionaries off against each other so that he kept his power absolutely.

What makes this book so important is the author's attempt to get inside Stalin's mind which he does very well. And yet. In everything he said, did and ordered there is a dark corner which is completely unpredictable which is why those even in favour were all terrified. Time and again those who thought they knew Stalin got it wrong with fatal consequences: all were informers and informed upon by each other in a perfect circle of fear.

If you lined up all those who occupied positions of power during his reign, most of them would have a (red) cross through them. Violence, torture (for extracting false confessions) and murder were systemic, essential elements of Lenin's Bolshevism which Stalin expanded exponentially, even carelessly. Many millions died during the liquidation of farms (collectivisation) and the resulting famine. Many more millions were arbitrarily murdered and sent to the gulags during the 1937 Terror. The Second World War piled yet more millions on top of all of those, initially because Stalin failed to see through Hitler's intentions and because he had decimated the Red Army's officers, senior and junior.

The scale of the slaughter is so vast that's it's impossible to encompass it mentally. In these uncertain times, this is a work which should be read by everyone who's concerned with the so-called "populist" leaders around the world: this is the map to the deepest hell.

4 people found this helpful

Bored of the Rings

A fantastic read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 June 2016

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I can’t believe some of the negative reviews on here are criticising the writing of Simon Sebag Montefiore!

As someone with a somewhat limited attention span when it comes to longer non-fiction texts, I found myself gripped throughout Stalin by his sparkling prose and evocative descriptions. He presents a monumental amount of research and information whilst still keeping an almost movie-like narrative the whole way through.

Having read his Young Stalin a few years back, I knew that I would eventually get round to reading what is essentially the sequel. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t put off by the length - I was initially worried that it would be another half-read historical tome on my bookshelf, but Montefiore’s writing kept me reading until the end.

As with Young Stalin, he tells the story of one of history’s greatest in such a way as to present him as human. At times the reader almost sympathises with him, as we read of his personal tragedies. We discover more of Stalin’s personal relationships and the scheming and crawling of the members of the Politburo as they try to gain favour.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in learning about Stalin and his entourage. I’m sure there are plenty of great works out there, but Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar presents never before seen information in a highly accessible and readable way, a biography which I doubt will be rivalled for many years.

19 people found this helpful

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