To make a Frankenstein monster of a complex character like Stalin would have been too simplistic. I wanted to show who he was and, if you like, how he happened. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
Real stories – whether in pure fiction or historical – have a certain indefinable power; we are endlessly curious about the past and hungry for learning that we hope will illuminate the present. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
In the new Georgia, Stalin is no longer Georgian. He’s a Russian emperor. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
The West is pathetically naive about Russian reformers. We long to believe they are real liberals, but no liberal will ever rule Russia. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
I’m the sort of person who, if I arrive in a city under siege, in the middle of nowhere, I’ll always find my way to the leader of the rebels. I just don’t know how. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
In 1942, the Germans were running out of fuel. They were advancing so fast across the grasslands, the hot grasslands of south Russia, and the Russians were running out of tanks. And so both of them turned to cavalry, and there were great cavalry battles on the grasslands. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
As colonial puppeteer and successful restorer of Russia as imperial superpower, Mr. Putin is Stalin’s consummate heir. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
In Georgia, where I spend much time, the democratically elected pro-western President Mikhail Saakashvili has been beleaguered by a riotous opposition which proposes creating a constitutional monarchy under the Bagrationi dynasty, with a Spanish racing driver, Prince ‘Jorge’ Bagrationi, as king. Simon Sebag Montefiore Read Quote
