Doubelo7 t1_iwagliv wrote on November 14, 2022 at 4:19 AM

I’ve started reading Montefiore’s “Stalin, Court Of The Red Tsar” and am finding it really difficult to understand / keep up. A lot of names, nicknames, the first few chapters breeze through the war, revolution, Stalin’s rise to power, and it’s hard to understand how the early govt worked. I’ve picked it up about 6 months ago and have restarted the book a few times already.

Is this topic just that confusing or is it me? Is there maybe something else I can read beforehand? I’ve done some research on that early govt on the side and the kind of helped, but the book’s still a bit tough.

Thank you for your help!

pulpogigante t1_iwo2jkh wrote on November 17, 2022 at 1:46 AM

I think even Montefiore himself would probably agree with your assessment, as he later wrote a "prequel" of sorts called Young Stalin. This covers more of the war and lead up to revolution. Perhaps it would be better to read that first? I'm in the opposite position as I've not yet read The Court of the Red Tsar.

Doubelo7 t1_iwvvtv7 wrote on November 18, 2022 at 7:15 PM

Good suggestion! Didn’t realize he had a prequel so thank you for that. I’ve read a bit further and with the help of the included list of characters I’m able to start understanding now. The switching between nicknames, first names, and surnames for the same character threw me off a lot but it’s coming together now. Definitely reading the prequel next, should’ve started with that.

Understanding the way the old Tsarist and then the Bolshevik govt works also helped a ton. Spent a few days reading about that and the power struggles start to make more sense now.

Thank you!