Young Stalin

Reviews

“[A] meticulously researched, authoritative biography of Stalin’s early years…No one, henceforth, need ever wonder how it was that Stalin found his way into Lenin’s inner circle…Montefiore has found his devil in the details, working his way with a fine-toothed comb through previously unread archival material in Russia and in Georgia…uncovering facts that Stalin, once he assumed power, took great pains to conceal.”

“A brilliant book…The portrait of Stalin that emerges from these pages is more complete, more colorful, more chilling, and far more convincing than any we have had before.”

“A magnificent biography…A vivid psychological portrait of this dangerous, alluring, enigmatic man who, like Macavity, could vanish from the scenes of the outrages he masterminded.”

“Those early years tell us a lot about the momentous second half of a murderous life.”

“Montefiore writes at a rollicking pace that captures how exciting it must have been for Stalin and his co-conspirators to make a revolution and create a new world…One of Montefiore’s great strengths is that he eschews psychobabble…He gives us unvarnished Stalin, often in the man’s own words…A triumph of research and storytelling.”

“Young Stalin is a gripping read…Montefiore’s research, especially in the Georgian archives, is brilliant. The book provides a wealth of serious and scurrilous detail, creating a memorable portrait of one of the twentieth century’s greatest monsters.”

“[A] brilliantly researched and readable portrait…Anyone who wants to understand…the shaping of one of history’s bloodiest dictators must read this original and thought-provoking book.”

“On practically every page of Young Stalin there is a reason to smile with satisfaction at the thrust of revelation and often a reason to gasp or even to chuckle…This is as good as it gets.”

“[Some] stages of Stalin’s life are worthy of Alexandre Dumas.”

“Should the life of a black-hearted ogre, a mass murderer who was the wickedest of the twentieth century’s monsters, be quite so entertaining?…[Montefiore writes] a racy, vivid biopic. Stalin the bank robber resembles James Cagney as his most revved-up; Stalin the buccaneer has the courtly panache of Errol Flynn…His effrontery is shockingly, shamefully irresistible…The revolution became a tragedy; it began, however, as a chaotic farce, with Stalin as its nihilistically jolly master of ceremonies.”

“Montefiore has a novelist’s eye for detail and the brio of a high-class journalist.”

“I had always imagined that Stalin was a monster but, unlike Mao, a colorless one. How wrong I was and how fascinating he really was.”

“Wonderfully readable.”

“Outstanding.”

“An exciting, exemplary biography…Montefiore captures in an absorbing narrative both Stalin’s conflicted character—marked by powerful charisma and deep paranoia—and the revolution’s early years with stunning clarity.”

“Montefiore chills anyone knowledgeable about the tyrant’s future accomplishments.”

“Montefiore has once again managed to craft a thrilling historical account…This is marvelous work, drawing new ties and reinvigorating old ones.”

“Superb…Essential to understanding one of the twentieth century’s premier monsters and the nation he wrought.”

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