The Court of the Red Tsar

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The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a fantastic book for any student of Stalin's Russia. The AudioBook can be purchased from Amazon here.

Unlike a textbook, it is written for a popular audience and focuses on the personalities and "gossip" as much as the major historical events.

This grid is designed to help students and teachers decide how best to integrate the book into their schemes of work.

	Topic(s) Covered
Prologue: The Holiday Dinner, 8 November 1932	Suicide of Nadya (Disc 1, Track 1 - Disc 1, Track 5) Disc 1, Track 4 covers the central event
1: That Wonderful Time: Stalin and Nadya, 1878-1932
1. The Georgian and the Schoolgirl	Early Life (Disc 1, Track 5) Early Career (1,6) Role in Revolution and under Lenin (1,7) Rise to Power (1,8)
2. The Kremlin Family	Profile: Molotov
3. The Charmer	Attacks on the Kulaks (1,9) Stalin's Charisma and Charm (1,10) Stalin's style of holding meetings (1,10: 5mins)
4. Famine and the Country Set: Stalin at the Weekend	Attacks on Ryutin and Tukhachevsky (1,11) Profile: Kaganovich (1,12) Attacks on the Kulaks (1,12)
5. Holidays and Hell: The Politburo at the Seaside	Profile: Beria (1,13)
6. Trains Full of Corpses	Profile: Mikoyan (1,13) Famine (Disc 2, Track 1) Stalin and Nadya under stress (2,2) Ryutin Platform (2,3)
7. Stalin the Intellectual	Stalin, Gorky and the Intelligentsia (2,4)
2: The Jolly Fellows: Stalin and Kirov, 1932-34
8. The Funeral	Nadya's Funeral (2,5) Profile: Kirov (2,6)
9. Sergo the Bolshevik Prince	Profile: Sergo (2,8)
10. The 17th Congress	Kirov and the 17th Congress (2,8-2,9)
11. Assassination of the Favourite	More on Culture (2,9) Profile: Zhdanov (2,10) Assassination of Kirov (2,10)
3: On the Brink, 1934-36
12. The Conisseur of Funerals	Aftermath of Kirov's death (2,11)
13. The Rose of Novogorod	Cinema and Cult of Personality (2,13)
14. The Dwarf Rises	Profile: Yezhov (Disc 3, Track 1)
15. The Tsar Rides the Metro	Stalin and the Moscow Underground (3,2) Treatment of Children (3,3)
16. The Show Trials	The Show Trials (3,4)
4: Slaughter - Yezhov the Poison Dwarf, 1937-38
17. Beria's Poison and Bukharin's Dosage	Kamenev and Zinoviev Executed (3,5) Noose tightens on Bukharin (3,6)
18. Sergo - Death of the Perfect Bolshevik	Death of Sergo and Bukharin (3,8)
19. The Massaf Generals and the Fall of Yagoda	Yagoda arrested and disgraced (3,9) Tukhachevsky arrested and executed (3,10)
20. Blood Bath by Numbers	Overview of the Terror (3,11) Magnates terrorised (3,12)
21. The Blackberry at Work and Play	Yezhov in action (3,13)
22. Bloody Shirtsleeves: The Intimate Circle of Murder	Torture methods / Terror escalates (3,13) Profile: Malenkov (Disc 4, Track 1)
23. Social Life in the Terror	Impact on Children (4,2)
5: Slaughter - Beria Arrives, 1938-39
24. Stalin's Jewesses	[personal stuff]
25. Beria and the Weariness of Hangmen	Profile: Beria; Yezhov falls (4,3 - 4,4)
26. The Tragedy and the Depravity of the Yezhovs	Beria tortures and intimidates (4,5)
27. Death of the Stalin Family	Yezhov arrested / tortured (end portion of 4,7)
6. The Great Game - Hitler and Stalin, 1939-41
28. Molotov and Ribbentrop	Background to foreign policy (4,8) The Nazi-Soviet Pact (4,9) Invasion of Poland and Stalin's role (4,10)
29. The Murder of the Wives	Gruesome tortures (4,11) Yezhov executed (4,12)
30. The Winter War	Incompetence in Finland (4,13)
31. Molotov meets Hitler	Blitzkrieg; Fall of France (4,14)
32. The Countdown: 22 June 1941	Operation Barbarossa (Disc 5, Track 3)
7. War - The Bungling Genius, 1941-42
33. Optimism and Breakdown	Stalin collapses (5,4) Soviet Army in full retreat (5,5) Stalin asked to return to work (5,6) The retreat continues (5,7)
34. Zhdanov and the Siege of Leningrad	Siege of Leningrad (5,8)
35. 'Can you Hold Moscow?'	Battle for Moscow (5,9) Stalin decides to stay in Moscow (5,10)
36. Molotov, Mekhlis and Khrushchev	Molotov visits London (5,12)
37. Churchill visits Stalin	Churchill visits Stalin (5,13) Stalin throws a party for Churchill (Disc 6, Track 1)
38. Stalingrad and the Caucasus: Beria and Kaganovich	Stalingrad attacked (6,2)
8. War - The Triumphant Genius, 1942-45
39. The Supremo of Stalingrad	The tide turns in Stalingrad (6,3) Nazis defeated in Stalingrad (6,4)
40. Sons and Daughters: Stalin and the Politburo's Children at War	[Personal stuff]
41. Stalin's Song Contest	Culture: New national anthem (6,6)
42. Teheran: Roosevelt and Stalin	Teheran Conference (6,7) Anecdotes about Teheran (6,8)
43. Yalta and Berlin	Yalta (6,10) Attack on Berlin, death of Hitler (6,11)
9. The Dangerous Game of Succession, 1945-49
44. The Bomb	Stalin announces plan to retire (6,12) Stalin learns about the atomic bomb (6,12)
45. Beria - Husband, Father, Rapist	Profile: Beria (6,13)
46. Stalin's Nightime Movies	Stalin's Movies (Disc 7, Track 2) Stalin's Parties (7,3 - 7,4)
47. Molotov's Chance	Stalin turns against Molotov, Zhukov, Beria (7,5)
48. Zhdanov the Heir	Zhdanovschina; Zhukov falls (7,7)
49. The Eclipse of Zhukov
50. The Zionists
51. A Lonely Old Man on Holiday
52. Two Strange Deaths
10. The Lame Tiger, 1949-53
53. Mrs. Molotov's Arrest
54. The Leningrad Case
55. Mao, Stalin's Birthday and the Korean War
56. The Midget and the Killer Doctors	The Doctors' Case (Disc 8, Track 1)
57. The Destruction of the Old Guard
58. The Patient and his Trembling Doctors