The Last Days of Stalin

By: Joshua Rubenstein

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A scholarly, absorbing narrative of Stalin's last days and the turbulent wake of his dictatorship.

Joshua Rubenstein's riveting account takes us back to the second half of 1952, when no one could foresee an end to Joseph Stalin's murderous regime. He was poised to challenge the newly elected US president, Dwight Eisenhower, with armed force and was also broadening a vicious campaign against Soviet Jews. Stalin's sudden collapse and death in March 1953 was as dramatic and mysterious as his life. It is no overstatement to say that his passing marked a major turning point in the 20th century.

The Last Days of Stalin is an engaging, briskly told account of the dictator's final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, and the unfolding of Soviet and international events in the months after his death. Rubenstein throws fresh light on the devious plotting of Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev, and other "comrades-in-arms" who well understood the significance of the dictator's impending death; the witness-documented events of his death as compared to official published versions; Stalin's rumored plans to forcibly exile Soviet Jews; the responses of Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles to the Kremlin's conciliatory gestures after Stalin's death; and the momentous repercussions when Stalin's regime of terror was cut short.

©2016 Joshua Rubenstein (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Extremely interesting

If you could sum up The Last Days of Stalin in three words, what would they be?

Very interesting and easy to listen to. I love it.

What did you like best about this story?

Additional information; research is obviously well done.

Have you listened to any of Arthur Morey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did not expect to.

Any additional comments?

I will look for more recordings by Morey and books by Rubenstein.

An excellent overview of the final days of Stalin.

If you could sum up The Last Days of Stalin in three words, what would they be?

Detailed, excellent, well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Everyone, even Stalin himself.

What didn’t you like about Arthur Morey’s performance?

It only seems to be narration, no accents, nothing that interested me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

A must-have for fans of the USSR's history.

Very informative book

Very informative book I doubt if I could’ve ever achieved we enter the cold war with Soviet leaders they were still stuck in Marxist ones ideology

A superb history

Fascinating study if a short period in history when there was a thaw in US Soviet relations, with superb analysis and wonderfully read

Solid meh

The opening was great. I didn’t understand how the rest of the book was organized. It jumped all over the place time wise.

Insightful and enjoyable

Filled a gap in my understanding the USSR history and policy. Morey's narration is engaging.

Could have relied more on original sources

Often quoted newspaper reports as evidence. Lacking original Russian source material to validate views.

Review of an era of Russian history

I would recommend this book to any student of Russian history. Most of the names referenced were familiar to me so the book was both a review and in some ways enlightening - in my ongoing study of world history of the pre and post war period.
The narrator did an excellent job of presenting a somewhat dry subject.

Not what I expected

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book is not as interesting as I expected. I was anticipating a format closer to the "Killing series" and this one just did not deliver.

What was most disappointing about Joshua Rubenstein’s story?

I felt the book was jumping back and forth around Stalin's death. The story was non linear, and like it was wandering with out direction.

Have you listened to any of Arthur Morey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, Arthur is terrific and he did the best he could with the text.

Do you think The Last Days of Stalin needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, this book does not deliver any take away point other that Stalin wanted more Communism and hated Jewish people. We already knew that.

Where is the sixth star?

Books like are critical is individually and humanity collectively.

The author did readers great favor with well researched facts and disinterested analysis. Also, aithoe mentioned and quoted Solzhenitsyn in varied occasions. I am happy that I just finished one of his gulag books recently.

Murray as always is an ace as a reader. Except some pronunciation is questionable