8/8: (Mutiny like Progozhin and Surovikin was what Stalin feared) : 8/8: Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books –by Geoffrey Roberts
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2023
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Yalta 1845
8/8: (Mutiny like Progozhin and Surovikin was what Stalin feared) : 8/8: Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books –by Geoffrey Roberts
https://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Library-Dictator-his-Books/dp/0300179049/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
In this engaging life of the twentieth century’s most self-consciously learned dictator, Geoffrey Roberts explores the books Stalin read, how he read them, and what they taught him. Stalin firmly believed in the transformative potential of words and his voracious appetite for reading guided him throughout his years. A biography as well as an intellectual portrait, this book explores all aspects of Stalin’s tumultuous life and politics.
Stalin, an avid reader from an early age, amassed a surprisingly diverse personal collection of thousands of books, many of which he marked and annotated revealing his intimate thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Based on his wide-ranging research in Russian archives, Roberts tells the story of the creation, fragmentation, and resurrection of Stalin’s personal library. As a true believer in communist ideology, Stalin was a fanatical idealist who hated his enemies—the bourgeoisie, kulaks, capitalists, imperialists, reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries, traitors—but detested their ideas even more.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS I In The World. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm John Bachelors. |
| 0:05.2 | Jeffrey Roberts, professor at University College Corps, |
| 0:08.3 | emeritus professor of history. |
| 0:10.2 | Remember the Royal Irish Academy? |
| 0:12.0 | His new book is Stalin's Library, a dictator in his books. |
| 0:16.3 | Stalin was a big reader, a capacious reader, |
| 0:21.1 | and a reader who had opinions, who obliged his lieutenants |
| 0:27.3 | and admirers to shape their opinions to his. |
| 0:30.8 | He also did it with his pencil, his editing pencil, |
| 0:33.8 | crossing out whole pages, for example, |
| 0:36.4 | in a biography about Stalin, he wanted less, is more. |
| 0:40.7 | He was shy about his own history, puzzle. |
| 0:44.3 | But in any event, he had other opinions |
| 0:47.4 | about a short history of the Soviet Union. |
| 0:50.1 | History how it should be presented to children. |
| 0:52.8 | How all these stories should be told? |
| 0:54.8 | You add in there, where did he get the time? |
| 0:56.9 | So does everybody when they come across this man? |
| 1:00.2 | And Jeffrey is reproduced in his book, |
| 1:04.4 | pages that show Stalin's cross-outs |
| 1:07.5 | and the languages in Russian, but you can understand, |
... |
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