The Crimean War; one of history's most compelling subjects; encompassed human suffering; woeful leadership and misadministration on a grand scale. It created a heroic myth out of the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade and; in Florence Nightingale; it produced one of history's great heroes. The war was a watershed in world history and pointed the way to what mass warfare would be like in the twentieth century. New weapons were introduced; trench combat became a fact of daily warfare outside Sebastopol; medical innovation saved countless soldiers' lives that would otherwise have been lost. Ultimately; by failing to solve the Eastern Question; the war paved the way for the greater conflagration which broke out in 1914 and greatly prefigured the current situation in Eastern Europe.
#361759 in Books Vintage 2008-10-14 2008-10-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.99 x 1.08 x 5.16l; 1.06 #File Name: 1400096138528 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A strong narrativeBy C. D. VarnMontefiore's biography of the young Stalin is both humanizing and surprisingly fair-minded. Montefiore is not inclined to like Stalin and is fairly anti-Bolshevik overall; and yet; Montefiore does not continuance every conspiracy theory about Stalin's early life nor reveal only in the seedy details--although there are plenty. Montefiore is accessible; writing in short chapters; and explaining context without becoming exhaustive. This is one book; however; where it does really pay to read the chapter foot notes. Starting the book with his bank heist to fund the Bolsheviks in the early 1900s but almost cost him his relationship to either form of the SDs; and working to in the center was a brilliant structure to the book. This puts the wildness of Stalin's early years in perspective. There are a lot of names to keep up with--particularly since everyone goes by several aliases--but Montefiore does his best to keep all in perspective. Montefiore also does use a lot of secret archive memoirs and letters to construct a much more viable narrative that had be available on this period prior. An excellent introduction to not only Stalin but the tense political situation in the caucuses during the turn of the last century as well.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. amazingBy AnthonyIn high school or even college how much did we learn about Stalin? Purges; psycho; leader; Red; and madman....he is these things; but the book lends incredible insight into the complexities of a personality that became a cult of personality. How else can we understand someone or a part of history if we only take in the mainstream narrow view of those who write for reasons of persuasion. For one thing this book reminds of us is how critical parenting is. His mother and father had issues but also strengths. Seems the issues trumped the strengths in many ways. Stalin could have been one who contributed in good ways to the world but seems his track in life brought him to act without humanity or conscience. His genius was titled in favor of paranoia and tyranny leaving us with the horror stories of history. I would think those who do historical psycho analysis would be hard pressed to find one so interesting and terrifying as this man who seems to have had more than 9 lives under his belt. Where is the next socio-path going to arise from....it might be from amongst our own tribes....teach your children well....and hopefully their father's hell will slowly go by....unfortunately it didn't for Mr. J Stalin.One note....I think the author good have edited the starting chapters on Stalin's boyhood....kind of repetitive and cycling back and forth....a bit jarring....but still a great read.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. This is the best biography of Stalin I've readBy JohnThis is the best biography of Stalin I've read. I had previously read Monefiore's novels Shashenka and One Night in Winter; both of which take place in Stalinist Soviet Union; and I was captivated. His research and knowledge of the era was astounding; so I decided to give his biography of Stalin a try. For the most part; this reads more like a novel than a biography; going in depths of Stalin's crazy early life; featuring love affairs; escapes from his many siberian exiles; bank robberies; as well as an overall portrait of how a young man from Gori who studied at the Tiflis seminary rose up into Lenin's circle and ultimately became dictator of the Soviet Union for 25 years.
