Reviews

Der junge Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore

tomstbr's review against another edition

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4.0

A short history of a young man. I think it's quite a brilliant biography, the horrors that Stalin is well known for little more than a concluding footnote. The author explores the seminal years of Soso, and harrowing they are indeed. An abusive upbringing, years in isolation; what created The Red Tsar is hinted at throughout. Needless to say, all Great Men of History have auspicious beginnings (and all appear to be very well read).

leanne_83's review against another edition

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5.0

This is an amazing biography on the man that would one day become a monster named Stalin.

We see an intelligent child, become an adolescent rebel, and a poet, gangster and revolutionary in his adult years. It really is facinating stuff, I couldn't put the book down.

donnaadouglas's review against another edition

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4.0

Following the early life of Stalin, up to the October Revolution, this book is both well-researched and well-written, providing an insight into the journey of a young boy on the path to becoming one of histories most notorious dictators. Many of the sources which created this book would have been banned from being recorded during Stalin's rule.

stevenyenzer's review against another edition

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3.0

Coming into this with little knowledge of Stalin's biography, I found it interesting but ultimately kind of "meh." It seems like Montefiore uncovered some previously unknown elements of Stalin's history, but it all felt a little inside baseball.

susani_'s review against another edition

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4.0

Everyone has heard of Stalin. The Russian dictator, with the big moustache who was responsible for the deaths of millions of his own people. The man who took over the Russia Soviet Union from Lenin and lead Russia through World War Two but at the casualty rate of 27 million Russian people; men, women and children.

[b:Young Stalin|826564|Young Stalin|Simon Sebag Montefiore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356455250s/826564.jpg|994440] by [a:Simon Sebag Montefiore|371093|Simon Sebag Montefiore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1342716473p2/371093.jpg] is a book about Stalin before he became Stalin. This book is based on ten years of research on his younger years, his brutal household (alcoholic father and strict mother), his schooling years and then his young adult years. Stalin was quite the man-whore during his younger years but this book describes his years as a street tudent priest, romantic poet, gangster mastermind, prolific lover, murderous revolutionary, and the merciless politician to a dictator.

I cannot wait to start reading [b:Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar|282108|Stalin The Court of the Red Tsar|Simon Sebag Montefiore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320529351s/282108.jpg|2910172]

4.5 stars

aproxyname's review against another edition

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4.0

'Young Stalin' is one of the best biographies I have ever read. Montefiore is a master of taking truth and spinning entertainment from it. I learned so much while still keeping me hooked.

salter_surrealism's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad

4.5

gjermis's review against another edition

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5.0

Skummelt detaljert og grundig bok, skrevet på en spennende og engasjerende måte.

Veldig interessant om du vil vite mye mer enn du trenger om Stalin!

catherine_80's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative slow-paced

4.25

caroparr's review against another edition

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3.0

Colin Thubron's book about the border between China and Russia prompted me to learn more about Russia, particularly about Stalin. Well, this book is ground-breaking for the author's uncovering of hitherto hidden documents and his interviews with the quite elderly people who knew Stalin in his salad days. But the granular details about where Stalin went when and who he saw overwhelm the story, and I could never quite grasp the big picture. Maybe I will turn to Wikipedia or a good young adult biography.