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Article: From poet to dictator; Reconstructing Josef Stalin's early years.(BOOKS)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- December 9, 2007
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Joseph C. Goulden, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
What transformed an obscure cobbler's son and sometime seminarian and romantic poet into a merciless psychopath? The British author Simon Sebag Montefiore gives the answer in his account of the early years of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. I state, without reservation, that this is one of the more compelling biographies I have ever encountered. Firmly basing his tale on research that is truly staggering in its breadth, Mr. Montefiore tells the story in an account that has the dramatic appeal of a first-rate novel.
In essence, what he has produced is a "prequel" to his earlier book on the latter-day Stalin, "The ...