Bit of a random one this, but after reading an excellent biography of Danton while on holiday, and in doing so learning a lot about the French Revolution, I'm quite keen to find a similarly good book on Russian history from 1914 to the Cold War; and one about the whole Mao/ Chinese revolutuion shebang. Anyone got any recommendations?

PAge Matt H he is a modern historian! I'm sure he could help you …. actually just re-read post think his thing is British history! Oh actually I don't know any more….I'm rubbish and not very useful at all today!

Try 'Stalin' by Edvard Radzinsky. It covers the period approx 1900 to 1939 really well. Nicely written too..there's a paperback version as well:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-Depth-Biography-Explosive-Documents/dp/0385479549/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255959799&sr=8-4