[Rufii]

Robert Payne was a renowned biographer and historian who wrote more than 100 books. His Stalin book first came out in the mid-sixties. The other two that I mentioned were published recently. Stephen Kotkin's massive biography tells the story up to 1941, with more to come.

I once read that there are more books about Stalin than there are about anyone else except for Jesus Christ and Napoleon Bonaparte. However, most of these were probably published in the East Bloc.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Thanks for that information. I may tackle those books later on. Right now I am also reading a pretty good biography on Lenin.

Lenin: the man, the dictator, and the master of terror
By Victor Sebestyen

The key thing I have taken away from both books, in my opinion, is that neither of these people really believed the propaganda they were spreading. The only thing Lenin and Stalin were interested in was raw power and control. I don’t believe for a minute they truly believed in the Marxism and communism that much.
As an example Lenin when he took over, lived at the Kremlin, and he had a chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce to go around in. He had the finest food and luxuries. As did Stalin. They were the ultimate mendacious hypocrites, and the brutality they brought down on their own country, but shows how little they really cared. Millions and millions of their old countrymen died and they didn’t care.