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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) |
| 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 |
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