Orion Publishing Co: 'this terrific and terrifying biography of the years to 1917.' (THE INDEPENDENT )
'It shares with its predecessor (STALIN THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR) the virtues of fine prose, empathy with a rich range of characters and narrative of great ability.' (Ross Leckie, THE TIMES )
'brilliantly readable history of Stalin.....Sebag Montefiore's re-creation of the world in which his subject's picaresque career unfolded is wonderfully detailed and convincing, and the portrait he paints of an egotistical monster in the making is unforgettable.' (Pick of the Week in THE SUNDAY TIMES )
'this lively and accomplished account of Stalin's "gangsterish", pre-revolutionary youth, which draws on material from newly opened archives.' (THE GUARDIAN )
'bring[ing] to life the unnerving 'young man with the burning eyes'' (THE OBSERVER )
'This colourful account...is a gripping read as well as faultlessly scholarly' (THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'this zippy prequel' (EVENING STANDARD )
'gripping account....... An excellent companion to Montefiore's previous bestseller' (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE )
'a thrilling portrait of Lenin's chief gangster and successor.' (DAILY EXPRESS )
Stalin remains one of the creators of our world - like Hitler, the personification of evil. Yet Stalin hid his past and remains mysterious. This enthralling biography that reads like a thriller finally unveils the secret but extraordinary journey of the Georgian cobbler's son who became the Red Tsar. What forms such a merciless psychopath and consummate politician? Was he illegitimate? Did he owe everything to his mother - was she whore or saint? Was he a Tsarist agent or Lenin's chief gangster? Was he to blame for his wife's premature death? If he really missed the 1917 Revolution, how did he emerge so powerful? Born in poverty, exceptional in his studies, this charismatic but dangerous boy was hailed as a romantic poet, trained as a priest, but found his mission as fanatical revolutionary. The secret world of Joseph Conrad-style terrorism was Stalin's natural habitat, where he charmed his future courtiers, made the enemies he later liquidated, and abandoned his many mistresses and children. Montefiore shows how the murderous paranoia and gangsterism of the criminal underworld, combined with pitiless ideology, taught Stalin how to triumph in the Kremlin.
