Book Review

This is my review of a book called Arus Pemikiran Lenin & Stalin. This book was written by Mr. Lukman Santoso and it’s published in 2005.

The reason I bought this book because the book was cheap and light. This book is just IDR10000 (under one US Dollar) at Gramedia. This book is only 200 pages. Personally, I like to buy small books because mostly big book is a more expensive and smaller book is portable. I don’t have any expectations when I bought this book because it’s just IDR10000, cheaper than my usual lunch cost.

This book is about the story of Russian Leader, Lenin & Stalin. This book has 2 main chapters. The first chapter is about Lenin with his own story and next to it is Stalin's story. The story itself started from their underground movement against Tsar Nicholas to their victory overthrown the Tsar Empire. besides that, there’s a story about how Lenin governs his party and nation and also the story of the struggle of power of Stalin to be the true heir of Lenin.

The most exciting chapter for me was about Stalinism vs Nazism. This chapter shows the dilemma Stalin has when facing the possibility of Germany under Hitler attacking Russia. Although both of the political leaders sign a pact to not attack each other, the threat is always there. 

There are several things that bother me when I read this book. first, the storyline is not in good order. there is a lot of repetition of the same story that I think it’s because the story is not on chronological order. Second, the book doesn't tell much about the relationship between Lenin and Stalin. I wish the author has one special chapter focusing on the connection between Lenin and Stalin.

In conclusion, skipping lunch to buy this book was worth it.