Stalin cover art

Stalin

The Court of the Red Tsar

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Stalin

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Winner of the British Book Awards History Book of the Year

Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize

This thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar.

Based on groundbreaking research, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals in captivating detail the fear and betrayal, privilege and debauchery, family life and murderous cruelty of this secret world. Written with extraordinary narrative verve, this magnificent feat of scholarly research has become a classic of modern history writing. Showing how Stalin's triumphs and crimes were the product of his fanatical Marxism and his gifted but flawed character, this is an intimate portrait of a man as complicated and human as he was brutal and chilling.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2003 Simon Sebag Montefiore (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group
Historical Military & War Russia Stalin War Imperialism Scary Military Thought-Provoking Hungary
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Collapse cover art
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover art
A People’s Tragedy cover art
The Soviet Century cover art
The Whisperers cover art
Jack Hinson's One-Man War cover art
True Believer cover art
The Third Reich at War cover art
Adolf Hitler cover art
JFK and the Unspeakable cover art
American Prometheus cover art
I, Claudius cover art
Hellhound on His Trail cover art
The Looming Tower cover art
The Traitors cover art
Hitler's Hangman cover art

Critic reviews

Horrific, revelatory and sobering ... triumph of research and should be required reading in Russia. Book of the Year (John Le Carre)
This grim masterpiece, shot through with lashes of black humour ... The personal details are riveting (Antonia Fraser)
Fascinating ... [Montefiore] concentrates, as any good historian should, on pushing forward the boundaries of our knowledge of the subject ... [He] provides rich detail of daily life and family relationships in a world of human values turned inside out ... scrupulously fair in the way he describes Stalin's qualities - including his ability to charm, his uncanny grasp of geopolitical issues, his brilliant handling of foreign statesmen and his genuine passion for literature (Antony Beevor)

What listeners say about Stalin

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    462
  • 4 Stars
    67
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    408
  • 4 Stars
    49
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    403
  • 4 Stars
    51
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must listen

A brilliant, insightful and entertaining history of Stalin. This farcical and utterly terrifying era of revolutionary Russia serves as a warning to us all

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating history

excellent book very well related. fascinating if repellant characters . Interesting facts and historic facts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting

A new insight into one of the 20th century 's worst villains. Read how he built up and then destroyed a long list of comrades and family whilst running one of the world's largest empires.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Detailed, well researched, fascinating

A long journey through the unbelievably cruel, but clever, life of Joseph Stalin. Long, but worth listening to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

Long but worth every word . Light shines into a time some of us lived through and those that did not should read this book. Wonderfully written and immensely well researched.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

An absolutely chilling and aweinspiring book about Stalin and the people closest to him. One of the best books I've read. Fantastic work!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

entertaining

Entertaining yet inaccurate on number of points. In some cases author did not crosscheck evidence. One example: conversation between Zhukov, Vasilevsky and Stalin about "some other" ways to solve Stalingrad "problem" never happened. It is pure fiction of Zhukov in his memoirs in an attempt to grab some fame from successful "Uran" operation while "Mars" under his command was drowned in blood. Proof: Records of Stalin's daily visitor's journal. Zhukov or Vasilevsky did not visit Stalin on the date, before or after it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

Starts slowly, but builds a tremendously rich picture of life in Stalin's inner circle. Shocking, at times comical, and always interesting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting 🧐 and enlightening

A great book, very well written, brilliantly narrated and I would definitely recommend this 📚 book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Story of murder and dictatorship

A well recounted and detailed history of a murderous regime that explains the paranoia that defines the Russian state. A shocking history that is woven into compulsive listening; how would the west ever consider an alliance with a regime that kills and tortures its own to such an extent? If you ever doubted Russophobia this will cure you!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful