Books

Browser: Unpicking the reading life of Joseph Stalin

Brief reviews of: Stalin’s Library; Periodicals and Journals in 20th Century Ireland 2; and Unheard Voices

Stalin read science, linguistics, philosophy and economics, but also devoured the classics of Russian and western fiction. Photograph: Getty Images

Brian Maye
Sat Feb 12 2022 - 06:00

Stalin's Library
Geoffrey Roberts
Yale University Press, £25

Joseph Stalin's intellectual life and biography are explored here through the prism of his personal library. Arguably the 20th century's most self-consciously learned dictator, he "valued ideas as much as power". Themes covered are his deeply held beliefs (the appalling record of human loss notwithstanding); his attempts to frame the writing of his biography; the reading habits that formed the young revolutionary; the history of his personal library; his annotations in the books he read, and the role he believed literature should play in a socialist society. He read science, linguistics, philosophy and economics, Marx, Engels and Lenin predictably enough but also devoured the classics of Russian and western fiction. Stalin's library is "among the best means we have of accessing the dictator's inner life" and Geoffrey Roberts does so admirably and revealingly here. – Brian Maye

Periodicals and Journals in 20th Century Ireland 2
Mark O'Brien & Felix Larkin (eds)
Four Courts Press, €55

Publishing Irish periodicals for much of the 20th century faced "grinding commercial pressures...to sell advertising, increase distribution, promote subscriptions and solicit patrons", so it's all the more remarkable that so many, and of such high quality, were published. Four periodicals discussed (Fortnight, The Phoenix, Honesty and the Church of Ireland Gazette) are in the "reporting and reflecting on current events" category; periodicals that pushed for political change, such as In Dublin, Gay Community News and the Irish Housewife, form a second category; while a third focused on the creation of communities, such as women's magazines, Irish-language and religious magazines. Case studies of key periodicals (eg, The Bell, Status and the Catholic Bulletin) plus a consideration of owners, editors, contributors and controversies make this a stimulating and informative read. – Brian Maye

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Unheard Voices
Imelda Wickham
Messenger Publications, €12.95

The unheard voices are those of prisoners and author Imelda Wickham is a Presentation Sister who's been a prison chaplain for more than 20 years. Prison chaplaincy was a calling within her calling and answering it, she knew instinctively this was where she belonged, feeling no fear and never experiencing intimidation. Morning is a good time in the prison and it always amazes her how people locked up for 13 hours can greet her with warmth, good humour, wit and banter, but evening brings out the hidden pain of separation and loss. Incarceration isn't the answer for people suffering from addiction and mental health problems, most of whom are poor and need help for untreated childhood trauma, she argues. Hers is a thought-provoking, compassionate and urgent voice. – Brian Maye