There have been many biographies of Stalin but the court that surrounded him is untravelled ground. Simon Sebag Montefiore acclaimed biographer of Catherine the Greats lover prime minister & general Potemkin has unearthed the vast underpinning that sustained Stalin. Not only ministers such as Molotov or secret service chiefs such as Beria but men & women whose loyalty he trusted only until the next purge. Spectacular...an impressive & compelling work Philip Mansel Spectator This magnificent portrait of the dictator Richard Overy Literary Review