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Lenin the Dictator
- An Intimate Portrait
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
- Length: 20 hrs
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Lenin the Dictator
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Summary
Victor Sebestyen's intimate biography is the first major work in English for nearly two decades on one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. In Russia, to this day, Lenin inspires adulation. Everywhere he continues to fascinate as a man who made history and who created a new kind of state that would later be imitated by nearly half the countries in the world.
Lenin believed that 'the political is the personal', and while in no way ignoring his political life, Sebestyen's focus will be on Lenin the man - a man who loved nature almost as much as he loved making revolution and whose closest ties and friendships were with women. The long-suppressed story of his ménage a trois with his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and his mistress and comrade, Inessa Armand, reveals a different character to the coldly one-dimensional figure of legend. Told through the prism of Lenin's key relationships, Sebestyen's lively biography casts a new light the Russian Revolution, one of the great turning points of modern history.
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What listeners say about Lenin the Dictator
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-02-23
Amazing!
Brilliant from start to finish. I could not put this book down and raced through it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. C. Bethell
- 13-04-24
Bolshevik bluster
An absolutely brilliant audiobook superbly narrated . A harrowing account of one of history’s most brutal regimes led by a certifiable despot
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- GuyR
- 24-09-23
Excellent book, well read
Well written and researched, Lenin was an appalling dictator who set the stage for what was to come for the next 100 years in Russia
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alex Verbitsky
- 25-07-23
Impressive Package
Great story with perfect level of detail - not too much to make it boring and not too little to make it too casual
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Richard Watkins
- 29-01-24
A most excellent listen!
Very well researched, and exceedingly well narrated.
Kept me enthralled throughout and most importantly, I learnt a great deal 👌
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ynys Mon1
- 07-04-24
Deep Dive Into Lenin
I have always been fascinated by the Russian Revolution, which would not have ended the way it did without Lenin. This was a very detailed account of the man who started the Communist Cancer that has spread throughout the world in one form or another.
I was quite surprised to learn of the sheer brutality of the Tsarist regime, and how implicated Nicholas was. If you want a deep dive into the man revered and loved by so many and equally hated - this is the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- McKenna
- 26-01-18
Excellent
Knew only the basics about Lenin (and much of what I thought I knew turned out to be contradicted by this book) and so it was exactly what I was looking for.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book and the performance
Hard for a male to do female voices , which I found a little jarring is only minor criticism
Highly recommended
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-09-19
brilliant
amazing detail on the life of Lenin. read clearly and with great enthusiasm. a great audiobook for any history fan
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- david mitchell
- 14-12-21
Excellent detail and insight
Lots of detail on Lenin in the pre-revolutionary years and provides into how his uncompromising mindset developed.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- CastleWay
- 27-02-24
Fun Telling - With One Red(!) Flag
I was enjoying the book - fun, pacy and pop, until one little aside about the clown duo ‘Bim Bom’. Sebestyen writes that the Cheka opened fire on the act, resulting in the death of one of the performers. This immediately rang bells and after some digging in Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin, I found what I had been looking for - Bim & Bom, both alive and well in 1920!
I appreciate this is a ridiculously minor point, but it really jumped out and after finding the total inaccuracy, I’m left doubting the veracity of other aspects of the book too. Basic primary sources can be found to disprove this story, so what was Sebestyen doing? Assumedly, repeating a story from The Peoples Tragedy or the KGB.
I’d recommend a read / listen as it’s a pacy and dynamic telling of Lenin. Weak on theory, but to the benefit of pacing. However, I would warn the reader / listener that Mr. Sebestyen isn’t too vigorous in inspecting his sources.
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