Stalin

The Court of the Red Tsar

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore

Narrated by: Jonathan Aris

Fifty years after his death, Stalin remains a figure of powerful and dark fascination. The almost unfathomable scale of his crimes–as many as 20 million Soviets died in his purges and infamous Gulag–has given him the lasting distinction as a personification of evil in the twentieth century. But though the facts of Stalin’s reign are well known, this remarkable biography reveals a Stalin we have never seen before as it illuminates the vast foundation–human, psychological and physical–that supported and encouraged him, the men and women who did his bidding, lived in fear of him and, more often than not, were betrayed by him.

In a seamless meshing of exhaustive research, brilliant synthesis and narrative élan, Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the life and lives of Stalin’s court from the time of his acclamation as “leader” in 1929, five years after Lenin’s death, until his own death in 1953 at the age of seventy-three. Through the lens of personality–Stalin’s as well as those of his most notorious henchmen, Molotov, Beria and Yezhov among them–the author sheds new light on the oligarchy that attempted to create a new world by exterminating the old. He gives us the details of their quotidian and monstrous lives: Stalin’s favorites in music, movies, literature (Hemmingway, The Forsyte Saga and The Last of the Mohicans were at the top of his list), food and history (he took Ivan the Terrible as his role model and swore by Lenin’s dictum, “A revolution without firing squads is meaningless”). We see him among his courtiers, his informal but deadly game of power played out at dinners and parties at Black Sea villas and in the apartments of the Kremlin. We see the debauchery, paranoia and cravenness that ruled the lives of Stalin’s inner court, and we see how the dictator played them one against the other in order to hone the awful efficiency of his killing machine.

With stunning attention to detail, Montefiore documents the crimes, small and large, of all the members of Stalin’s court. And he traces the intricate and shifting web of their relationships as the relative warmth of Stalin’s rule in the early 1930s gives way to the Great Terror of the late 1930s, the upheaval of World War II (there has never been as acute an account of Stalin’s meeting at Yalta with Churchill and Roosevelt) and the horrific postwar years when he terrorized his closest associates as unrelentingly as he did the rest of his country.

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar gives an unprecedented understanding of Stalin’s dictatorship, and, as well, a Stalin as human and complicated as he is brutal. It is a galvanizing portrait: razor-sharp, sensitive and unforgiving.

Critic reviews

“Terrific . . . Montefiore’s portrait of Stalin and his circle is a deeply researched and wonderfully readable accomplishment–scholarship as a kind of savage gossip . . . its sensationalism redeemed by Montefiore’s deep grounding in the facts.”
–Lance Murrow, Time

“Montefiore’s superb book offers a closer look at this personal side of Stalin and his top collaborators. Indeed, no Western writer has got as close. He trawled through newly opened (and often subsequently closed) Soviet archives, which brought some astonishing material to the surface . . . [A] dark and excellent book.”
–Ian Buruma, New York Review of Books

“A fascinating biography . . . The first intimate portrait of a man who had more lives on his conscience than Hitler.”–Richard Pipes, New York Times Book Review

“Mr. Montefiore draws upon new archival material, unpublished memoirs and interviews with survivors of that era (including many children of Stalin’s associates and underlings) to create a harrowing portrait of life in the dictator’s inner circle. In doing so, he gives us an intimate look at Stalin himself and the culture of sadism, ruthlessness and dread that flourished around him, fueling a murderous regime that would leave tens of millions of people dead.”–Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“A well-researched and insightful book . . . The narrative adroitly catches the atmosphere of the time.”–Richard Lourie, Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating, superbly written study . . . There is much news here and much to ponder. Altogether extraordinary, and required reading for anyone interested in world affairs.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Because of its extraordinary detail, this portrait of Joseph Stain is as realistic as is currently historically possible . . . By illustrating how Stalin acted in private, Montefiore has produced a landmark work that rounds out political biographies of the tyrant.”
–Booklist (starred review)

“There are many Stalin biographies out there, but this fascinating work distinguishes itself by its extensive use of fresh archival material and its focus on Stalin’s ever-changing coterie.”–Publishers Weekly

“If you plan (wisely) to read only one book about Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, let it be “Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar.” Simon Sebag Montefiore, writing with the skill of a novelist . . . has based his highly readable biographical thriller solidly and factually not only on all of the preceding scholarly studies of the Soviet dictator but also upon newly available archival materials.”–Seattle Times

chapter 40?

loved it but I believe the last part of part 2 which is chapter 40 is unavailable. it is listed as 0000 seconds long and skips to next part. what gives?

Excellent narrator !

Narrator is excellent! This books kept my interest from start to finish. Great for history buffs and new comers alike!

Interesting book but not a interesting man.

I have read Lenin's biography and between the two Lenin is a more interesting character. Stalin was just plain evil, but I did enjoy learning the history.

Chilling, a horror story of the Last Tsar.

Loved it, a story of loss, intrigue, betrayal and utter horror. The dry wit of the writing and fantastic delivery by the narrator made this is a chilling late night listen.

Good thing it can’t happen here!

No, it’s not the same. But the insecurity, arrogance, insularity, venality, obsession with a singular authoritarian figure, and deranged ethical order are all familiar. I was particularly interested in Stalin’s ability to cause other people to behave very poorly.

Fantastic author and narrator, way better than what I expected!

If you’ve read Chernow and Issacson bios (excellent books), this is completely different and astoundingly refreshing. This one goes into so much detail about things you normally don’t get to read about. Also the authors opinion is very much on display but it makes for such an entertaining read. Chapters like “A night in the nocturnal life is Joseph Stalin: tyranny by dinner and movies” are like vignettes but tell the story of a paranoid post WW2 dictator. Highly recommend!

BLOOD. BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD

I spent the entire summer of 2020 off and on listening to this book. I wanted to understand the motivation, the psychic disposition, the compulsions of the tyrannical personality.

What I got from Montefiore were the results, the product, of a despotic mind. I did not find the answer to WHY. We see very little of Stalin‘s formative years, the bending of the boy to behavior that boggles comprehension.

We do see way too much of the endless, ruthless, seemingly unjustifiable murderers of entire populations ordered by Stalin and his cadre of brutal thugs

Perhaps I’m dumb or ask too much, but I’ve been a lover of biographies for 70+ years and learned a great deal about human motivation from living with a person — as Doris Kearns Goodwin Is fond of saying — in the pages of books. Mr Montefiore’s research is more than impressive but my overall take of the book lies in my headline

One of the best biographies I have read

This book details both the triumphs and predations of Stalin's reign, how he made decisions, and how those around him lived. It's an instructive, horrowing, mystifying, and deeply moving book at how Tyranny affects people's lives and why many choose to not only with dictatorship, but sometimes champion it. Please read this along with Montefiore other book on Stalin, Young Stalin. Both make excellent biographies on Stalin's life.

One of the best books ever.

This book took FOREVER to listen to because I did it only while exercising ... between hospital visits and other miseries. However, it was one of the most interesting, fascinating, and blood-curdling accounts of one man's life I have ever read. Stalin was a sicko, but underneath it all a brilliant one. He probably had more Russians murdered during his rise to power and afterwards than Adolph Hitler managed to kill while invading the Soviet Union. The narration is superb; I was amazed at how easily the Mr. Montefiore managed to pronounce all those horrible, consonant-laden names with no apparent effort. If there is a hell, Stalin is there, hopping around in one of its biggest fires, right along with Hitler and other ogres of our time. If you want a fascinating listen, try this book: you won't be disappointed.

If this were actually a farce, it would be hilarious

At no point in history does such an awful period of homicidal lunacy approach a hilarious farce, told in stunning detail (and narrated beautifully in this version as well). Advice to the listener: watch Armando Iannucci's great film "The Death of Stalin" before undertaking this title - many complain about the difficulty of remembering the names of magnates, but Iannucci's film does a terrific job of familiarizing you with the differing personalities of Molotov, Khruschev, Berria, Mikoyan, Kaganovich, and Bulgannin.