Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Based on ten years' astonishing new research, here is the thrilling story of how a charismatic, dangerous boy became a student priest, romantic poet, gangster mastermind, prolific lover, murderous revolutionary, and the merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image: How Stalin became Stalin.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Fabulous!
Customer Rating:
Most history books tell the when and where -- this gives incredible insight into the "why"?--what made Stalin the cold-hearted, focused, and driven revolutionary, who was not only able to climb the bloody mountain of power (in competition with equally ruthless killers), but also charming enough to hoodwink Roosevelt, Truman, and even Churchill during World War II and in the post-war conferences. This is a must read for anyone interested in the human psyche in general, and in history in particular.
Incredible Book; No Movie Please!
Customer Rating:
This book was the first biography I ever read cover-to-cover, and immediately afterward I read the next volume (actually published before this one), the longer but equally good Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. It is really incredible all the detail Montefiore was able to extract from the Soviet-era archives, despite how disturbing it all is. Stalin's youthful exploits (like terrorism, romantic poetry, bank-robbery, priestly education, and sexual relationships with a plethora of girls and women) may surprise the reader who already knows something about the youth of that other WWII dictator...the failed artist who apparently had no girlfriend until he had become a racial messiah.
However, I have heard that Miramax has optioned this book and is planning to make a movie of it; I really think that idea is in such poor taste that I question whether Mr. Montefiore wrote this book for the right reasons.
They still have statues of Stalin in Georgia, and after reading this you may question how many of your own country's revolutionary leaders might be deserving of a hot seat in hell right next to Comrade Stalin.
"Young Stalin" Review
Customer Rating:
It's an excellent expose of the hitherto unknown childhood and young manhood of "So-So" (Georgian small form of Iosef, his given name)Stalin. The author and his brilliant narrative brings to life many of the unfortunate circumstances and events which undoubtedly had a profound effect on young Stalin, both during his formative years and in the turbulent decade preceding the Revolution. Rather than painting him as a Black Villain he treats young Stalin with the necessary objectivity to present him to the reader as a person who at least at the outset was able to feel emotion and tenderness for those few he loved and his land of birth. He also had a youthful love of the vibrance of nature and poetry. In essence, for those who care to understand who Stalin was, it is a "Must Read"!
Substantive and absorbing - a scholarly masterpiece
Customer Rating:
I initially picked up this book with the risk that it would be yet another red-baiting diatribe. Boy was I wrong. The author definitely has his political opinions, but the book is so thoroughly substantive and scholarly that people of any political leanings will have a lot to gain out of this book. And watch out - you might just come out cheering for the anti-heroic Stalin as the "Boy Named Sue" we've come to love growing up. While the author tries in vain to psychoanalyze how Stalin came to be so brutal, you feel like you're sharing a deep secret with a brilliant man and a passionate organizer.
Delightful! Similar to Young Indiana Jones
Customer Rating:
This is great action/adventure in the same vain as Georg Lucas's Young Indiana Jones series. Follow the exploits and exciting adventures of a young Joseph Stalin as he travels the world with a cadre of friends, including an wacky funny version of 12-year old Leon Trotsky...and in regards to that, you will perhaps laugh uneasily at the forshadowing when the 14 year old Stalin jokes to his 12-year old pal: "if you keep making those bad jokes, I am going to have you killed!" I especially enjoyed the love interest of the young Stalin, 13-year old Ameila Earhart, who takes Stalin barnstorming as they steal one of the Wright Brother's early planes. This novel is suitable for the whole family, and I think it is only a matter of time before Disney or one of the studies pick this up and makes a family movie out of it!
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