Hi
Which biographers of Lenin, Stalin and Trostsky would measure up to Ian Kershaw on Hitler? I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
Since this is about books, let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Simon Sebag Montifiore’s “Young Stalin” and “Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar” are pretty good.
Robert Service also wrote biographies of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, which were generally well received, although the Trotsky biography came in for a lot of criticism by Trotskists, who didn’t like seeing their hero criticized.
I liked Isaac Deutcher’s three-volume bio of Trotsky: The Prophet Armed, The Prophet Unarmed, and The Prophet Outcast
As did I, but I remember them as - ahem - perhaps somewhat more pro-Trotsky than Kershaw is pro-Hitler.
No doubt – The Prophet Unarmed is extremely sympathetic, but the description of how Stalin forced him out really makes him seem so.
Of recent reads I found Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy by Dmitri Volkogonov very interesting, and it is something different from the usual ‘western’ perspective.
Robert Service certainly gets a lot of publicity for his Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin biographies. I’ll start with those. I’ll also pick up the Montefiore’s “Young Stalin”. Thanks all.
davidmich
Lets hope so, I thought the Kershaw book too biased against its subject.
Agreed. Brilliantly written and containing much original research.
For what it’s worth, I feel that Joachim Fest’s Hitler is better.
Adam Ulam has always been the writer I respect most on Soviet history.
I recommend his biography ***Stalin: The Man and His Era ***.