"Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror" by Victor Sebestyen

I started out thinking this would be a solid treatise on the fallacy of Communism.  Although I suppose that has turned out to be the case, the larger impression the book made on me is that of an evil dictator, rotten with power, approaching the ruthlessness of Hitler.  Perhaps Lenin would have surpassed Hitler if he had lived beyond his 53 years.

I'll sum it up quickly.  Lenin started as a Marxist, spending decades in exile from Russia, living in various hideouts across Europe, including England, Switzerland and Poland.  He believed fervently in social revolution for Russia, and at this stage, I believe his intentions were genuinely good, if not misdirected.  The Romanov family had ruled for 300 years and the Russian people suffered greatly under its regime.  Lenin thought he could help.

Lenin tried for many years to start a revolution in Russia from his remote position in exile.  He wrote books, treatises and published newspapers in the hopes of sparking the revolution remotely.  He likely would have failed, and had in fact almost given up hope this his revolution would ever take place.

But then Germany, realizing that it was about to lose the Great War, decided that Lenin could help propel them to victory.  They met with Lenin, agreeing to pay him vast sums and to help him return to Russia, if only he would start a revolution that would create enough chaos to force Russia out of the war.  That's exactly what happened, freeing up Germany's eastern armies to join their forces amassed against the western front of the war.

Unfortunately for the millions of Russian citizens, Lenin succeed in putting his Bolshevik party in power, fueled by the secret funds from Germany.  Once in power, Lenin turned his back on all of his idealized wishes for the Russian people.  His only focus for the rest of his life was how to stay in power.  This resulted in the creation of his police state, a government within the government, solely focused on keeping Lenin and his Bolsheviks (now communists) in power.

Millions died to keep him in power.  Millions.  The Romanovs created a poor, backwards society.  But Lenin created an autocratic, defiled, evil, police state, a virtual hell on earth. 

That is until 1924 when Lenin died and Stalin took over the reigns.  And that's when it got even worse.  I'm not sure I could handle reading a Stalin biography.  We shall see.