The link below is to a really interesting article by Simon Sebag Montefiore. He asks the question, “History portrays Stalin as an inhumane and vicious leader – but he was a man as well as a monster. Do we betray his victims by noting his human side, or will the full picture help guard us against potential tyrants in the future?”
Have a look and perhaps comment what you think.
If you like the writing style of Montefiore, then you might like to read The Court of the Red Tsar . There is a copy in the school library.
I read this article by Simon Sebag, I found it interesting as it explored different aspects of Stalin. It was well written and the use of rhetorical questions meant that the reader was always involved and questioning the opinions of Sebag. The article helped me to have a wider range of understanding and ideas of Stalin.
I found the article interesting as it gave another side to Stalin. However, I thought that the writer maybe could have explored the reasons behind Stalin’s more violent crimes aswell.
A very interesting and thought provoking article. It captures what is always forgotten – that such ‘monsters’ are still human – extremely well.
I thought it was pretty interesting with the different opinions and how at the end it says that the closer to him you get, the more disgusting he appears.