Review: Ivan Meets Stalin
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
Ivan the Terrible Russia's Most Insane Tsar by Charles River Editors is a rather short biography of the life of Ivan IV, sort of like you may find on Wikipedia.  The book is interesting, but as some other reviewers have mentioned, not in great depth.  The subtitle, Russia's Most Insane Tsar, is somewhat misleading.  Ivan showed a bent toward cruelty, violence, and ruthlessness, but he is probably not that much different from his other 16th Century monarchs. In fact there are comparisons to Vlad the Impaler of Dracula legend. I wanted to read about Ivan because he was the historical favorite of Joseph Stalin, another biography I had recently read. The two had many similar personality traits.