This is CBSi and the world. I'm John Bachelor. Jeffrey Roberts, Professor University College

Cork, a emeritus professor of history, member of the Royal Irish Academy. His new book is Stalin's library, a dictator in his books.

Stalin was a big reader, a capacious reader,

and a reader who had opinions who obliged his lieutenants and admirers to shape their opinions to his.

He also did it with his pencil, his editing pencil, crossing out whole pages, for example in a

biography about Stalin, he wanted less is more. He was shy about his own history puzzle, but in any event he had other opinions about a short history of the Soviet Union history, how it should be presented to children how old these stories should be

told you wonder where did he get the time so do as so does everybody when they come

across this man and Jeffrey has reproduced in his book pages that show Stalin's crossouts and the

languages in Russian but you can understand he's getting rid of whole pages.

Some things he keeps are puzzling so and he's getting rid of whole pages.

Some things he keeps are puzzling.

So you can think to yourself,

was this a thoughtful excise?

Was this a thoughtful inclusion?

We come now to America, where Stalin is writing not a book but he's commenting on America

and his reading of America and I read this in comparison to America Stalin believes that the Soviet Union has a good democracy.

He writes, here elections are held in the atmosphere of collaboration between the workers,

the peasants, and the intelligentsia in an

atmosphere of mutual friendship because there are no capitalists in our country, no

landlords, no exploitation. I end there professor because this paragraph more than any

other that you quoted in your book reminded me that Stalin is a long time ago in

another language entirely with another understanding of

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