'What is the BEST book about Stalin?

Question

'What is the BEST book about Stalin?

Answer 1

Simon Sebag Montefiore's books are easy to read - but not the best. They are very biased against Stalin & a bit error strewn.

I'd recommend either Stalin: A Biography by Robert Service or the less academic, and often erroneous, but highly readable and insightful Stalin by Radzinsky.

Edit: Because they are very biased - and error prone.

Such as poor punctuation, non-sequiturs abound and there are many other grammatical errors.

Factual errors:  There is very little analysis of the power struggles in the 1920s and Kaganovich simply disappears without explanation.  And, even worse is his premis that the suicide of his wife led him to become more repressive - hogwash.

Radzinsky's book suffers from when it was written - before the opening of the archives.  Biographers like Montefiore and Service had much greater access to CPSU, State and Politburo files.

Source:  MA Russian Politics

Answer 2

The Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore hands down is the best book about Stalin.  I also read a very informative book about Potemkin by Montefiore.  The guy does excellent research and both books are very thorough.

Edit:  I have found that Montefiore was fair and just stating the facts from his research.  The fact that Stalin came out looking bad was that it is difficult for a tyrant to come out looking good.  Radzinsky is another favorite author of mine, but I haven't read his Stalin book yet (I have read his Alexander II and Rasputin books).  Since he was originally a playwright, his books are much easier to read than a standard biography.  Both Montefiore and Radzinsky did much research and had access to many primary sources that we will never come close to sniffing....how can you say either are error prone?

Answer 3

I have read Simon Sebag Montefiore's book, "Young Stalin" and it is pure garbage.  He has one agenda, and that is to slander Marxism.  He makes connections between anarchists and communists, claiming they are one and the same, while if anyone took a moment to think about it, would realize how this is untrue (the anarchists fought against the communists in the Civil War and even attempted to assassinate Lenin, yet we are to believe Lenin followed the ideas of anarchists? absurd).  Montefiore claims that Stalin was a liar and untrustworthy man (which is clearly true), but then expects the reader to believe many of the things Stalin claimed were true, largely concerning Lenin and Marxism.  It has been well documented that Stalin manipulated Marx and Lenin's works.  Montefiore is inconsistent with his research and only takes information that fits his personal views.