Born Josef Dzhugashvili in Gori, Georgia in 1879, Stalin studied to be a priest while secretly reading the works of Karl Marx. But he probably had more blood on his hands than any of them. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Visiting Professor at Buckingham University, he lives in London with his wife, the novelist Santa Montefiore, and their two children. Worshipped by the Russians as a great leader, Stalin was one of modern historys greatest tyrants, rivalling Hitler, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot. He has presented BBC television series on the Holy Cities of Jerusalem, Rome and Istanbul. Dr Montefiore's next major history book will be THE ROMANOVS: RISE AND FALL, 1613-1917. He is also the author of two acclaimed novels, SASHENKA and ONE NIGHT IN WINTER. JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY won the JEWISH BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE (USA). YOUNG STALIN won the COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD (UK), the LA TIME BOOK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY (USA), LE GRAND PRIX DE LA BIOGRAPHIE POLITIQUE (France) and the KREISKY PRIZE FOR POLITICAL LITERATURE (Austria). Robert Service and Simon Sebag Montefiore have produced strikingly different books. STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR won the HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE, BRITISH BOOK AWARDS. Reviewed by Golfo Alexopoulos, University of South Florida.

CATHERINE THE GREAT AND POTEMKIN was shortlisted for the SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE. Inside a monsters mind Sat 19.

His books are published in over 40 languages. Simon Sebag Montefiore read history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy.

Stalin book red tsar