Best New Reading of 2005: Stalin - The Court of the Red Tsar
Finally, after just 7 months we get to my best new book of 2005. Faster than a speeding ice floe…
I was totally engrossed by this book. I know Simon Sebag-Montefiore is not to everyones tastes, however I felt that the book did a wonderful job of conveying life within Stalin’s extended circle over a 30 year period, starting with the death of his wife and continuing until his own death in 1953.
One of the aspects I loved of this book was the way in which the author deals with the changing people around Stalin with people falling from favour and being replaced by others who will fall out of favour in their turn. He manages to bring each person to life so that they’re not merely names who means nothing.
The book is far too involved to mention many of the pictures painted however two things do stick with me. One is that of Stalin apparently expecting to be arrested in the days after the German Invasion in 1941 for his terrible mismanagement at the time, and his culpability for the purges of the 30s which had left the army leadership in such a perilous position. The other is of Khrushchev saying that he used to stay awake at night during later purges and listen for the lift. Only when the lift passed his floor did he go to sleep as he wasn’t being taken away that night.
As I’ve said the book was fascinating. I’ll be rereading at some point, probably later this year and marvelling that Stalin could maintain his position for so long and bring about the things he did.