A lot of personal details about Stalin, including WWII

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What a book! I strongly recommend it​

1) Interesting details about Stalin during WWII are described in a book which I reviewed recently (see point 3 below). Montefiore focuses on personal relations between Stalin and his "magnats." Most of what he writes is reasonably well documented and extremely intersting. I learned a lot from this book. (By the way, it can now be purchased at amazon.com for a fraction of one dollar--plus the usual shipping charge of four dollars. This price refers for "used" books.)

2) Below is my short review (as posted at amazon.com yesterday), for those who might be interested. Do not miss reading reviewed posted by other readers, long before me.

3) I agree with those who wrote that Montefiore's voluminous "Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar" is not always easy reading. But it is certainly worthwhile for the light it sheds on relations between Stalin and his close subordinates, those whom he liquidated and those who survived him. Stalin's methods of domination--both brutal and ideological--are skillfully described. The same applies to personal relations between communist leaders. The Soviet Union was the first country in which the idea of proletarian dictatorship, formulated by Marx, was implemented. That is why all aspects of Soviet history are worth studying. Be aware that the number of characters is unusually large. Fortunately, Stalin's family tree and the introductory section entitled "List of Characters" should help readers to deal with this problem.


Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
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Yes a brilliant book and gives a real insight into Stalin and adds lots of new information gathered from close colleagues and relatives.

Actually, I found the book excellent to read - S-M's books are all written with a very high standard of English.

However, the shear complexity of the actions and the number of characters is so huge that it is difficult at times to follow the thread.

I would have though it should be a MUST READ for the many enthusiasts on the German\Soviet battles on this Forum (actually not my preference - prefer 1940 much easier to understand)

 

The book is interesting to read but too much dramatic for my taste and I won't take everything that he have to say as 100% truth.