Tomorrow: Bloody tyrant and bookworm: the Bar Book Club to discuss Stalin's Library

14/06/2022

15 June 2022 at 5.30pm

To a degree, Stalin was a bloody tyrant, machine politician, paranoid personality, and heartless bureaucrat. But he was also an intellectual, devoted to reading, writing and editing. In the view of author Geoffrey Roberts, Stalin was "akin to a method actor" playing the part of a revolutionary ideologue. Tomorrow, the Bar Book Club will review Stalin's Library at 5.30pm in Level 22 Chambers conference room. Please click here to reserve your spot.

According to an article in the New Statesman, half of Stalin's books, complete with annotations, can still be found in Vladimir Putin's Kremlin office. Putin isn't Stalin, but recent events in Ukraine, and Putin's evident interest in Stalin have heightened interest in Stalin's Library: A Dictator and His Books, by Geoffrey Roberts. You can read a review by the Guardian here.

Member discounts

Grab a book on the Bar Book Club list, using a discounted gift card from Booktopia or Dymocks. Sign into the Bar Association website, and from the Member Dashboard, navigate to Member Advantage gift cards.