Sean McCollum

Summary: This book discusses the communist leader Stalin and his efforts to control the government and its people in Russia through many secrets and with help from the communist party that was completely unaware of Stalin's intentions.

Personal review: I did not like this book. Although it was very informational and explained Stalin his reign in politics, I found it hard to pay attention to at times. I think young children in elementary school would have a hard time understanding the concepts show more in this book and finding relevance in their lives.

Class use: I would use this book with Breaking Stalin's nose to compare the two books and discuss similarities. The class could have an open discussion about the two books and the information they found useful in each one. I could use the two books in a text set as well on Russia or the communist party or political issues. Political issues could be explored through the lens of time and conflict. show less

This book tells us about Stalin's life. How he took control of the USSR and how he stayed in power for so long. We learned about what he did in office, how even though he his main supporters and his country were rich even though the people of his country were not. As a reader we also learned about how he starved his people in order to export as many goods as he could to other countries so his country could become more powerful and wealthy even though they truly weren't.

There is a lot to learn from reading this book, even if you have some knowledge of Russia and of Stalin during this time period. I was stunned to learn about some of the horrific things that happened under his reign.

This was a very interesting text. I wish that I read it before Breaking Stalins Nose because I think that it would have helped me better understand why people were acting the way that they were in the story and how it impacted the main characters life.