I really found this book interesting. Stalin was one of the most terrible people in history, responsible for so much misery and death - but he remains a very prominent person in history who had a huge impact on the world, and reading this book gave me some additional insight into the man.

Going into the book, I thought there was one large collection of books that had been stored away in an archive somewhere - but his 'library' was held in several locations (including a number of library books that Stalin just held onto - I'm sure he was confident no Soviet librarian would actually give him a hard time over this). Many of Stalin's books subsequently disappeared into other collections and considered lost now, so this book's source material is incomplete. But the author's research was considerable and offer a fascinating perspective using the extensive material that does remain available.

Besides the range of books which Stalin appeared to have in his collections (acknowledging he probably wouldn't have actually read them all), the 'pometki', or annotations in the margins, were the main bit I enjoyed from this book. I appreciated that the author didn't appear to want to read too deeply into these and make big leaps unless they were backed up by other material. The author also tied these into biographical episodes from Stalin's life, providing some context on when the annotations were probably made. I read this on my Kindle and found myself making so many highlights and 'pometki' of my own.

This isn't a biography of Stalin and if you're not familiar with Stalin's life, I'd recommend reading one of the excellent biographies of Stalin available before reading this (though realistically, I don't think you're going to be considering reading this book unless you've already got an interest in his life!).

It’s hard to imagine Stalin curling up with a good book, but in fact he was a voracious reader and amassed a library of over 25,000 books, journals and pamphlets. This was dispersed upon his death but author Geoffrey Roberts has tracked down many of the actual books and what makes this significant is that Stalin marked and annotated his books thus giving us today an insight into his reactions and thoughts. He was an autodidact and an intellectual, an aspect of his character that we tend to overlook. Most of his reading matter was Marxist because above all he was an idealist and ideological fanatic, never doubting that he was correct in his thinking and much of his world-view is confirmed in the many comments and annotations he made in his books. He wasn’t alone in liking to read. Many of the early Bolsheviks were also great readers and also collected large libraries. This meticulously researched account of Stalin and his books is an unusual and original way of examining the dictator and is an insightful, intelligent and eminently readable exploration of the man who ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist. A must-read for anyone interested in Stalin and Russian history.

DNF @ 30% (the annex starts at 78%). This book hardly deals with Stalin's library; mostly, it's a shaky biography / history book, interspersed with mentions that Stalin was a voracious reader who accumulated a large library. I expected this to be an investigation into the question how specific texts were read and interpreted by Stalin, as he was keen on annotating his volumes, and how his reading shaped his politics and policies and thus: world history. But no: The book meanders and lacks focus and depth.

The underlying concept is so good, though!

I really enjoyed this book. The author had brought a tremendous amount of knowledge about Stalin to bear on his analysis of his books, and that, of course, made a huge difference. I found it to be very readable and as someone who would lack the language skills to work with most of the books myself I appreciated his glosses on their contents and significance.

All in all, a fine addition to the growing number of books about famous figures’ libraries.

A voracious reader, Josef Stalin had his own library of some 25,000 books, for which he employed the services of a librarian. He developed his own classification system and ex-libris stamp, and was fond of annotating and marking the books he read. He was a great respecter of books, if not of the people who wrote them. Whilst Stalin despised his political opponents, he paid close attention to their writings.
A surprising portrait of the infamous Russian leader emerges from the scholarly pages of “Stalin’s Library” by Geoffrey Roberts - that of an intellectual and deep thinking bookworm and autodidact who revered books, even berating his own children when they treated them poorly. Roberts discovers a tantalising (though not a complete) insight into the real Stalin by analysing the way he read his books and the marks he made in them. It is also an attempt to provide a verifiable biography of Stalin, debunking many “conspiracy theories” and incorrect yet widely believed facts about him.
Stalin was, conversely, shy of allowing books to be written about himself, vetoing many biographies and pamphlets, and those that were published were vigorously marked up if he disagreed with them. However, Stalin was more enthusiastic about the creation of his collected writings, a popular publication running to thirteen volumes until they were halted by Khrushchev. There is a revealing chapter on these books, their legacy and the unpublished final volumes, and very interesting details of the specific genres of books that Stalin favourited and the historical attempts to study his library. The longest chapter in the book is devoted to an rich and illuminating study of Stalin’s “potemki”, the marks, annotations and sometimes angry crossings-out that he added to many of the books he read.
Geoffrey Roberts has written a very readable and intelligent book; ostensibly pro-Stalin only in regard to establishing a factual biographical life of the man, and thoroughly researched. While there is much about Stalin’s library itself and its legacy and how his reading influenced him as a political leader, the book is also a history of Stalin’s rise to power and beyond. While this does create something of an identity crisis at times, this book is excellent throughout and is highly recommend to anyone searching for a slightly different take on Stalin’s life and times.