But it does sometimes risk making the dictator seem more sympathetic than he was. 'No summary can do justice to the wealth of this book, which leaves little to be desired.(.) What we have here is a social history of hell.' - John Leonard, Harper's

(.) For the first 150 pages or so, Montefiore tries too hard to prime his pump with overwriting (.) But he calms down as the news worsens.

'Montefiore is best at sitting us down inside this head cold of a delusional system.

This is one of the few recent books on Stalinism that will be read in years to come.' - Robert Service, The Guardian (.) Montefiore, by excavating and analysing the shards of evidence about daily life in his office and dachas, has illuminated wider aspects of the history of the USSR. (.) (T)his is a book based on extraordinary primary research.

'Simon Sebag Montefiore's book is gripping and timely.

But he is also charming and a widely read autodidact, with a library that included Wilde, Maupassant, Steinbeck, and Hemingway.' - Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs

'Stalin remains a monster, brutal in his politics and unspeakably indifferent to the suffering he caused.

But Mr Sebag Montefiore's book is all the more valuable for the surprises it presents.' - The Economist

It is much easier to read ghastly accounts of Beria's debauchery, or Stalin's paranoia, than anecdotes about children scampering happily through their parents' Kremlin offices, or of Stalin's punctilious habits in his personal correspondence, his bizarre flashes of kindness and decency or his extraordinary appetite for books. Still, if somewhat incidentally, his research has yielded material that greatly improves our historical understanding.' - Robert Conquest, The Atlantic Monthly 'Sebag Montefiore focuses on the human element (especially the family lives of the dictator, his associates, and his victims), generally treating the vast events of the era as scenery.General information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs.

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