Sell Us the Rope

by Stephen May

May 1907. Young Stalin – poet, bank-robber, spy – is in London for the 5th Congress of the Russian Communist Party. As he builds his powerbase in the party, Stalin manipulates alliances with Lenin, Trotsky, and Rosa Luxemburg under the eyes of the Czar’s secret police. Meanwhile he is drawn to the fiery Finnish activist Elli Vuokko and risks everything in a relationship as complicated as it is dangerous.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Russia, British Literature

240 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2022

About the author

I am a writer, living in the North of England.

Reviews

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will appeal to readers of Robert Harris as it follows his proven recipe: take a historical event and invent a spy plot around it. I found it very enjoyable and well done!

The setting is the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which took place in 1907 in London (one of the few places the Communists could meet and discuss freely). It is 10 years before the October Revolution and all the big shots are there already: Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Rosa Luxemburg. It is always fun to read about historical figures before they became famous and in this case especially young Stalin is quite the character. In fact he appears as an informer of the Czar's secret police (Okhrana) - a historical fact I was not aware of - around which the spy plot revolves.

A love story is neatly woven in too - although actually it is quite a substantial part of the novel, slightly too much for me. I had hoped to learn more about the Congress itself, but that is clearly not the focus of the novel, and maybe it was not all that important a congress anyway.

The author also clearly enjoys having the Russians criticise the English for their narrow-mindedness and complain about the filth, pollution and poverty of capitalist London. I am not British, but I can imagine this is fun if you are.

Many thanks to @sandstonepress for the ARC via Netgalley

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sell Us The Rope is an inventive, very clever play on actual historical events. The 5th Congress of the Russian Communist Party really did take place in London in 1907 and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the man we would later come to know simply as Stalin but who at the time preferred to be known as Koba, did attend along with other famous Communist party members such as Lenin (referred to as Ulyanov in the book), Trotsky, Maxim Gorky and Rosa Luxemburg.  The Conference itself was dominated by internal wrangling and a conflict between the Bolshevik and Menshavik wings of the party over its future direction, however it’s not necessary to know any of this to enjoy the book which is much more about the characters than the politics.

The young Stalin we meet in the book is a wily, formidably determined figure, propelled by a sense of destiny. ‘His country will always need him, there will always be a national emergency.’ The son of a violent father, there are already signs of the inner ruthlessness and capacity for violence that will later be unleashed on the world. ‘Anyone can learn to kill. It’s learning to live with having killed that is the difficult part.’ It’s clear that Koba has already learned to live with it and lots of other things besides. He definitely has a short fuse, having to be restrained from assaulting a journalist who attempts to take a photograph of him quite soon after his arrival in London.

It would probably be overstating it to say we a ‘softer’ side to Koba in the book but his relationship with Finnish activist, Elli Vuokko, does show he has a capacity for affection, albeit it represents a betrayal of his wife.  And the way Koba befriends young Arthur Bacon, the son of the owner of his lodgings, is rather touching, even if Arthur does appear to be an entrepreneur, perhaps even a capitalist, in the making.

It was interesting to witness Koba’s and Elli’s impressions of London as they walk the streets of the city. They are appalled by the poor housing, poverty and the lack of sanitation they see and the city’s downtrodden population. ‘The under-sized, misshapen people, the tired and skinny livestock. The children still, dead-eyed and sullen, or, alternatively, running and pushing or shrieking like supercharged geese through the crowds.’ Elli is particularly conscious of the demeanour of the women she sees. ‘They are so wan, so many with a curious bluey-yellow patina to the skin, so many with a haunted look. So many muttering to themselves. So many coughing.’  Asked what’s the matter with them, Koba replies, ‘Work. Children. Degradation. All three.’

In case you’re getting the impression the book is a depressing read, I can assure you there are plenty of moments of, often deadpan, humour.  For example, Koba’s reaction to an English cup of tea: ‘I think I can’t drink this grandmother’s piss’. Or when describing Rosa Luxemburg: ‘Elli could listen to her talk about anything for hours. Which is probably just as well’.  Or when lured to alternative lodgings by the prospect of a flushing toilet, Koba and his companions are disappointed to learn they may only flush it once a day, at 10pm to be precise – except in case of ‘special need’. Asked to elaborate, Arthur explains, ‘Da says if it’s proper disgusting, you can pull the handle’.

For those who crave an element of intrigue there is Koba’s sparring with agents of the Okhrana, the Tsar’s secret police, who are attempting to use their hold over him to force him to denounce influential members of the Communist party who threaten their interests.  But perhaps it’s not so easy to get one over on Koba?

The author’s historical note provides fascinating background detail. I was surprised by how many of the characters, including ones I had thought might be the product of the author’s imagination, were actually drawn from real life, such as Arthur Bacon who really did run errands for Stalin. The same goes for many of the locations, some of which still exist albeit in a different form. By the way, for those wondering about the book’s title, let Koba explain. ‘You know the old saying that when it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope.’

Sell Us The Rope is a rather chilling insight into the complicated and violent history of Russia, especially given current events. However, as a work of fiction it’s a wonderfully immersive read, full of atmosphere and with a delicious thread of dark humour.

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 1907. Europe is in turmoil, the Communist Party is strengthening its core and building its far reaching tendrils that will allow it to control half of Europe in a few decades down the line. The most prominent leaders converge in London for the Party's 5th Congress, to mediate between blood-thirsty Bolsheviks and meek bland Mensheviks, but mostly to gather funds from the very same capitalists their aim is to vanquish: "You know the old saying that when it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope? Well, first they will lend us the money we use to buy that rope."

We follow a young Josef Stalin - although he goes by the name of Koba - a true proletariat man from Georgia, as he tries to establish himself in the higher ranks of the party, dealing with the great names of the hour (Lenin, Trotzky, but also Rosa Luxemburg and Julius Martov) and trying to advance his career.
But we also see him observe the strangeness and complexity of London through the eyes of the poet, keen on details and vivid descriptions; we follow him as he helps out a local boy who is too gentle and kind for his own good, and as he clumsily falls in love with Comrade Elli Vuokko from Finland; we feel him get angry, homesick, sad, scared, insecure, taken aback, happy even...

The historical setting of "Sell us the rope" is impeccable, the writing is well crafted and perfectly suits the tone and mood of the novel, but what will stay with me the most is how impossibly human the main character has been made: before everything we know about him, there was a man. Flesh and bone; just a man.
I think this is the most powerful aspect of historical fiction, and here it is done masterfully.

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might not be for everyone. It moves rather slowly but I found it to be quite enthralling. No doubt you will see me reading Rosa Luxemburgs writings by the end of the year after this. I may also check out that large bio "young Stalin" that seems to be perpetually on the shelf at a local bookstore. This novel certainly produces a Stalin that one can hardly avoid being sympathetic to.

Despite the fictional elements this was a very interesting view into the existence of the early party that just a decade after the setting of this novel overthrow the Tsar and change the world.

I appreciated the author's intention of Elli Vuokko as well. A noble stand in for the countless victims of the White Armies during the Finnish Civil War. I'd go a step further to say that her character is worthwhile homage to all revolutionary women lost in the pursuit of a greater life for themselves and their people.

[Ally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historically, the author stumbles repeatedly in this, which is a major faux pas if you are claiming to be writing historical fiction. The depiction of Rosa Luxemburg was insulting, the plot seemed to forget where it was going on several occasions, the history was inaccurate, and I was quite bored by the end. Which is disappointing given that it had the potential to be a riveting read.

[Keith Currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men of Steel

A conference of Russian Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in London in 1907, attended by no less than Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg and a young Josef Jugashvili, later to be known as Stalin, as well as a list of the leading communists of the day, there to hammer out the future direction of socialism, by the armed revolution or by political means.

It’s hard to credit, but this conference really happened; that Stalin’s Georgian delegation was so short of money, they kipped down in a London doss-house, moving later to a house where a bullied son struck up a friendship with Stalin, and who later became a Conservative politician; that Lenin and Trotsky preferred to drink fine wine in the accommodation of a wealthy sympathiser; that the conference itself took place in the premises of a socialist minded clergyman, who happened to originate from Ulster; that rich ‘useful idiots’ could be seduced to provide money for the delegates’ fares back home.

All true. Perhaps not so true is the married Stalin’s quasi-romance with a Finnish woman delegate, Elli Vuokko, a liberated and committed revolutionary, and her growing friendship with Rosa Luxemburg. Will the relationship of Elli and Stalin flower? And how might Stalin’s links with the Czarist secret police place Elli in danger?

This is a wonderful novel, filled with the optimism of socialism in its idealistic youth, soured by the violent reality of communist purity. I enjoyed it in its every aspect, the political toing and froing, the picture of London squalor and English xenophobia, the conflict of the idealistic and the pragmatic, the pleasures and pains of conference living. Witty, imaginative, original and thought provoking, all at the same time. I enjoyed it immensely, even its rather poignant afterword.

[Ceri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate the author's intentions in writing it, but on the other hand, the style wasn't particularly to my taste.

[Eric Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

A new novel about the congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party of 1907? Starring Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin and Rosa Luxemburg? What’s not to like?

And the book’s premise — that Stalin was a long-term, paid informer for the tsarist secret police (the Okhrana) — made the book especially interesting for me. The fact that it had a positive review in The New York Times — that was icing on the cake.

Sadly, this is a very disappointing book. The research seems to consist of the author reading (more likely — skimming) a single book from a couple of decades ago that argued Stalin had been an agent of the tsarist police. The author of that book, Roman Brackman, built his case on the testimony of NKVD General Alexander Orlov, who was perhaps the least trustworthy source imaginable. (Following his defection to the West in the late 1930s, Orlov neglected to tell his FBI handlers that during his time in England, he recruited the infamous Cambridge spy ring.)

There is little evidence that Stephen May read anything else about the colourful history of the Russian revolutionary movement — and anyone with a passing knowledge of that history will spot the bloopers from early on.

For example, the Okhrana super-spy Ievno Azef, was not “the former head of the party’s combat organisation”. He was the head of a different party’s combat organisation, a party which was a rival to the Social Democrats. It was called the Social Revolutionary Party.

Another example: to describe Rosa Luxemburg as the “influential theorist of permanent revolution” is completely wrong. Permanent revolution was a theory created by the little-remembered Parvus (Helphand) and embraced by Trotsky.

And the idea that Stalin consorted with Trotsky in London was absurd. Trotsky wrote about meeting Stalin briefly — noting that he could barely remember the man. His disdain for Stalin was one of the reasons the future Soviet dictator hated Trotsky and eventually had him killed.

The characterisation of Rosa Luxemburg is actually offensive. She is depicted in this book in the same way as the anarchist Emma Goldman was portrayed in E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, which was a far superior book. Rosa is shown as a sexually liberated woman giving life lessons to a younger female comrade while bathing together. You’d not imagine such a character as the author of dense economic works such as The Accumulation of Capital, or The Industrial Development of Poland. In this book, Luxemburg seems to have hardly any interest in politics, and like Trotsky she seems to be one of Lenin’s Bolsheviks (which neither of them actually were — certainly not in 1907).

The most important figures in the Russian revolutionary movement, including Plekhanov and Martov, are treated as buffoons.

All this could be forgiven if there was an interesting story to tell. But there is no story. Nothing happens. Romances that might have taken off go nowhere. People whose lives appear to be under threat are rescued. In the end, everyone attends a congress — about which we learn almost nothing — and then goes home.

Historically illiterate, offensive in its treatment of key intellectual figures on the Russian Left, and devoid of any drama or tension, this is a completely vacuous work.

Meanwhile, the true story of the young Stalin and his relationship with the tsarist police remains to be written.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful.

[Ethan York · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting and fun. Sure it was a little uncomfortable that I found myself rooting for Joseph Stalin as I read the book. But there I was. This book had a good combination of accurate historical facts combined with an engaging fictional story. I also appreciate that the author details what facts are historically accurate and which are embellished in the epilogue. But what I think makes this book so good is a fast paced, snarky, sometimes crass but more often times, funny story of something -a socialist convention. In London in the early 1900s- that does not seem something that could ever be funny, or fast paced or really interesting at all. Turns out that it can be.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite my struggles with the nature of this book as a fictional piece based on real happenings (I always am distracted by books of this nature - why didn't the author just include the established fact, or why didn't they just create their own characters?) this novel about Stalin's attendance at the 1907 Communist Party Conference in London was enthralling and clever. There were a number of characters well-painted and in which I was invested. I thought it well-observed, thought-provoking and for all the lack of actual accuracy, quite informative about early 20th Century sociology and politics.

[Michael Rumney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stalin visits England for a conference in 1907. Lots of talking and not much doing, typical of a socialist. Not a lot happens in the book but I found the dialogue and the author's descriptions of a run down London engaging.
We also get a look at the UK's spying techniques in a fledgling organisation that has no idea how to do it.
These antics the socialists get up to puts you off them for life but you can say that for any dictatorial ideology.
You got the feeling the author enjoyed writing this and at 238 pages he knew when to stop. Any longer this book would have got tiresome. Other authors can learn from Stephen May.

[Ric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the more clever historical fiction books I’ve read in a very long time. Having the main character be a young Stalin at a communist conference in London is so different than anything else I’ve ever read. Just a quick and fun read.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[amb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is how all historical fiction should be written… 4.5

[JUNE 𖤝 · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don't understand why all the women in this book ever think about are men and sex. their ambitions are primarily men and sex, their fantasies are men and sex (and sometimes revolution!) it's like the only meaning of liberation for women is getting to say unhinged shit like 'i want to fuck a gentleman' or doing hookups 🙀🙀

[David Wharton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It might be argued that once Hilary Mantel has said of a historical novel, ‘I wish I’d written it myself’, all other discourse becomes kind of redundant. Nevertheless, here goes.

Stephen May has created an immersive vision of London in 1907: dark and breathless, wholly of the story’s time, but shot through with sly references to Brexit Britannia. The protagonist is the young Stalin (then calling himself Koba), as yet only quarter monster. He’s already capable of terrible acts, but they’re either necessary to his survival or a response to awful circumstances, and he’s really not much worse than anyone else around him. Occasionally too, he’s redeemed by emotion, by some unanticipated kindness or sentimental moment. It’s a psychologically convincing portrait, always haunted by the ghost of his future.

Koba’s point of view alternates with that of Elli Vuokko, a young Finnish woman whose complex, lambent character contrasts beautifully with the dour, scheming males around her. She’s a brilliant creation, wholly sympathetic as she makes friends with Rosa Luxemburg, goes to self-defence classes, hangs out at the baths, and flirts with Koba. She’s brave, intelligent, funny and at one of the novel’s most telling moments, can reveal herself to be an ice-hearted fanatic without losing a scrap of the reader’s sympathy.

The language, present-tense, tough and acerbic, is 21st Century through and through. Nevertheless, this book reminded me more than anything of Conrad’s The Secret Agent. It’s the same London, the same heart of darkness.

This is a marvellous novel, taking some interesting, little-known shreds of early 20th century history and weaving them into a twisty narrative that is inventive, seductive and wholly convincing. The plotting alone makes it worth the ride, but there’s so much more to Sell Us The Rope than that.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quote from Hilary Mantel on the cover says she wishes she had written it herself. So do I — it would have been a much better book. Just imagine what she could have done, taking us inside Stalin’s head when he was just another young revolutionary! May’s flat style rarely brings the characters alive, and the book trudges along without much in the way of plot. I got fed up with the depiction of the female characters, especially Rosa Luxemburg. The conversations between her and Elli rarely pass the Bechdel test — they seem to be obsessed with men and sex. That’s another aspect Hilary Mantel would have done a lot better. I was unmoved by Elli being in peril and unsurprised at the outcome.

If I was looking for good points, it would be the depiction of the east end of London in 1907. The Russian and European delegates are shocked at the squalor and deprivation in this city, apparently worse than what they see at home, and the scenes in the lodging houses and streets are the most vivid in the book. But overall, a dull read, quickly skimmed through.

[Ian Durant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written historical novel based on the characters and intrigue at the 5th Congress of the Communist Party in London in 1907. Koba, aka a 29 year old Joseph Stalin, is central to the narrative and is portrayed in a balanced way, but with the early signs of what he became. I had one gripe, that the characters were not developed in all their complexity and the opportunity to describe their inner conflicts was a bit thin - as a result the book felt somewhat soulless. That said it did bring the events alive and shone a light on the gestation of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia a decade later.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect I began reading this with somewhat askew expectations. I'd much enjoyed 'Stronger than skin' and just finished reading a run of detective novels, therefore this took a while to get the pace of, and felt a little sepia in terms of interest. Once I realised it needed treating with a similar mindset to historical novels such as 'Wolf Hall' I enjoyed it more, although I have never felt a burning interest in this particular period. In the end it did hold my interest.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great piece of historical fiction: a slice of time & space that seems both ancient and feels like yesterday. A story that manages to make one of the 20th century's monsters seem human while at the same time offering any number of takes on the people and thoughts that would fuel violent revolution across the globe. All in a concise, evocative package.

[Sally Khalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book - came from my book subscription and would not have picked it off the shelf myself. Good read with interesting historical backdrop.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

liked it but where was the plot

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you humanize a monster? Perhaps if you dig deeply into his early years, when he was a young revolutionary. As a thug, a bank robber, a killer, to be sure. But decades before he became the all-powerful mass murderer who starved millions of Ukrainians to death, sent millions more to the gulag (or their deaths)—and then led the Soviet Union to victory over Hitler’s legions. And, yes, that was novelist Stephen May’s choice in Sell Us the Rope, giving us a compelling portrait of Joseph Stalin when he was twenty-nine years of age. At the same time, the novel illuminates the early days of the world Communist movement.

A CRUCIAL VOTE THREATENS YOUNG STALIN’S FUTURE
In May 1907, the Fifth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party convened in London, having been denied permission to meet in Denmark or Sweden. Just four years earlier, at the party’s second congress, two competing factions had formed. The majority (Mensheviks) and the minority (Bolsheviks) struggled for control. (Ironically, the names meant the opposite, since in Russian the Mensheviks were “of the minority.”)

Now, in London, there was no doubt that the more moderate forces held sway. And for the young Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin, a vote they seemed certain of losing was a serious threat. They were broke, but they would be forbidden to continue their practice of “expropriations”—the bank robberies engineered by Joseph Stalin, which was their principal source of funds. And for Stalin himself the vote would threaten his continuing effort to rise into the leadership of the world Communist movement.

HONORING HISTORICAL FACT—MOST OF THE TIME
May’s account of the early days of the world Communist movement is solidly grounded on historical fact. Most of the principal characters in his story are snatched from the history books. Koba, the nom de guerre of Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (Stalin). Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov (Lenin). Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Trotsky). The writer Maxim Gorky. And Rosa Luxemburg, the celebrity of the congress. Young Bolsheviks, one and all.

But the author inevitably takes liberties with some of his characters. Records of what they said or thought at the time are scanty. And he’s especially imaginative in his treatment of Elli Vuokko, “the representative of the lathe operators of Tampere” (Finland), whom he elevates into a major character. Vuokko did exist, but little is known about her other than that she was one of the Red Guards of the Finnish Civil War and “was killed as part of a White Army massacre in 1918” at the age of thirty-one. However, in May’s telling, Vuokko—aged twenty at the time—catches young Stalin’s fancy, and he fantasizes about making love with her. (Stalin was married and had a child.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen May is the author of five novels and five plays as well as two textbooks. He also writes for television. May was born in 1964 in southern England and educated at the University of Essex.

[David Schwinghammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stalin in SELL US THE ROPE is not the mass murderer we have come to revile. Stalin was responsible for the murder of millions of Ukrainians and sent others to their deaths in the notorious Gulags. The real Stalin refused to trade a German general for his son who had been captured during WWII, claiming he wouldn’t trade a general for a mere captain. His son was killed.

We do know that Stalin was a published poet and wanted to be a priest as a young man, but we don’t expect him to establish a relationship and identify with the young Arthur Bacon son of Thomas Bacon, who ran the hostel at 77 Jubilee Street where he and his fellow Georgians stayed during their time at the 5th Congress of the Russian Communist party in 1907 London.

When Arthur’s father killed 13-year-old Arthur’s song bird, Stalin bought him a new one and warned his father that if anything happened to the bird, he would have to answer to him. When Stalin sent the boy out to buy food, Arthur would always keep the change. Stalin had an abusive father himself and identified with young Arthur. Stalin’s father had wanted him to be a shoemaker, which he hated.

Also in the book was the notion that Stalin was an informer for the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police. When Stalin was accused he was supposed to give up Litvinov, a popular fellow Georgian. Stalin smelled a rat and stood up for Litvinov, which was the right move. Lenin and Trotsky had laid a trap. Lenin looked askance at Stalin because he had a reputation as a bank robber for the socialist cause. A few weeks after the London Congress a bank robbery took place in Tiflis, Georgia, when the national bank was robbed.

Arthur Stephen May includes a romance of sorts in the story. Stalin was already married with a newborn son, but he was drawn towards Elli Vuokko, a fiery Finnish socialist. May admits that Vuokko did exist but most likely was never at the meeting.

The title of the book comes from a party held for Joseph Fels of the Fels Naphta fortune. The Bolsheviks were out of money and couldn’t return to Russia without a loan. Fels gave them seven thousand plus but expected them to pay it back with interest. The socialists were insulted. One of them said the capitalists would sell them the rope they would eventually hang them with.

[Rose Gan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A curious gathering of future revolutionary Socialist leaders is in 1907 London for the Congress of Social Democrats bringing together Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and everyone in between including Okhrana agents. We meet Lenin, Stalin, Rosa Luxembourg, Gorky, Trotsky et al in their younger days, together with British left wing notables such as Emmeline and Sylvia Pankhurst and Ramsay McDonald. Sell Us the Rope is a fascinating window on the claustrophobic world of early Communism where paranoia reigns, spies abound and no one trusts anyone. Stephen May does a wonderful job recreating the background setting off the squalor, brutality and despair of London’s poor. His prose is vivid yet sparse; he draws powerful images with a few strokes of his brush.

There is a sardonic humour to lighten the intrigue and poverty, much of it centring around the sexual passions of its main characters who, for all their intellectual socialist fervour, seem to be equally obsessed by a desire to get laid, often unsuccessfully. Elli Vuokko, the Girl Nihilist, is a particularly intriguing character; the mention of the real Vuokko in the authors notes at the end makes the re-creation of this little known Finnish woman especially poignant.

My only criticism of this excellent novel would be that although the dialogue is very well realised, here and there it becomes too modern to be convincing- a place is ‘trashed’; a character says ‘fun? I can do fun’; ‘ my hip is giving me grief’ But it is compelling nevertheless ( especially with the benefit of hindsight)to observe this obscure event ten years before the Russian Revolution which will shape the future of a Europe and imagine the personal grudges, often very trivial, that were already being stored up for the future.

[Tony Lawrence]

I’ve read all Stephen May’s books and this is a departure, fictionalised real historic characters and events (getting closer to a fiction/nf favourite author of mine Francis Spufford). In this case, it follows Stalin ‘Koba’ and the communist great and good to the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic and Labour Party to a church hall in East London! I don’t know how much of Stalin’s character is creative licence, but he comes across as a really complex character, not yet the paranoid mass killer he will become. He has a young family, he is a spy for the Tsarists ‘Okhrana’ secret police (or maybe a double agent?), he is kind to a young sensitive English boy who is being bullied by his father, is a reluctant suitor to the fiery Finn, Elli Vuokko. However, we do have hints of his history of violence and hard-headed desire to be in power; he is the bank-robber-in-chief, using ‘expropriation’ to boost party funds. At this stage Koba seems happy to sit on the sidelines as the Bolsheviks (Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg) and Mensheviks (Martov) battle for the heart and soul of the party. As a Georgian he is not invited to be a full voting member, but his skills and influence are being nurtured, and as we know his day will come.

The title comes from the saying about capitalists that they will sell you the rope to hang you, or lend you the money (with interest) and sell you the rope. This is a brilliant book with vivid imagery of the dirty bustling immigrant East End at a pivotal time and place that would shape the rest of the century and beyond.

[Harini Dedhia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book having heard the author on an episode of Shakespeare and Company’s podcast. “It is young Stalin in London, why wouldn’t I choose to write about it?” That itself struck me. The story is a simple one but a very enjoyable one- strong recognisable characters of the October Revolution (Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Rosa Luxembourg) living and breathing before history immortalised them with a small spy plot twist thrown in. The story is surprisingly set in London (the capitalist capital of the world at the time) at the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1907. The fictionalised retelling of the conversations between these very real characters, the rumour that Stalin worked for Tsar’s secret service made reality, the possibility of Stalin’s romance with a fellow delegate- all of this funnily humanises these agents of history especially Stalin. In weaving rumours and conjectures into a story, the author establishes an important adage- all of history is just a story.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sell Us the Rope
By Stephen May

Based on the Fifth Congress of the Russian Communist Party, which took place in London in1907, we meet the young Turks who will go on to create a Russia dominated by the Bolsheviks.

There were many attendees whose familiar names the reader will recognize – Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg – and a Finnish activist named Elli Vuokko. But the most significant player here is a young man who calls himself Koba - his real name is Joseph Stalin.

This is an interesting take on the early days of the rise of Russian communism. Mr. May shows us how the various segments of the party feel about party members who are not in tune with the Bolshevik agenda. And as we know, Stalin will go on to take complete control and to destroy any opposition.

Somehow as a reader of history, you may never have really given much thought to the early days in the lives of May's characters. This book will open your eyes.

[Michael Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird book.

There's the historical events of the 5th Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Part- but these occur mostly in the background. So it's not really historic fiction.

There are famous characters: Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, and more. Stalin (called Koba in the novel) gets the most attention. But none of them do much- Stalin walks around London and meets with people. He doesn't actually do anything until the last fifty pages. And even then, it's to threaten a father and to write a note. So it's not an action novel.

There's an attractive woman who's pursued by many, but actually caught by one. Of the three elements, this one gets the most time. But it's missing the standard elements of romance fiction. Neither the woman nor her beau express deep feelings. They're attracted to each other and that's it. So it's not really a romance novel.

So what is Sell Us the Rope?

I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.