Stalin's Grandson Tries to Save the Family Name

You might have thought of him as one of the worst dictators and mass-murderers to walk the face of the earth. However, according to his grandson, you'd be wrong - Uncle Joe Stalin was actually ok, and is just a bit misunderstood:

"Half a century of lies have been poured over Stalin's reputation and he cannot defend himself from the grave, so this case is essential to put the record straight," Mr Dzhugashvili's lawyer, Leonid Zhura, said.

Of course, they could be right, but I somehow doubt it. The evidence against Mr Dzhugashvili's grandfather is overwhelming. And the sort of historical revisionism that attempts to make him anything other than a dictator of the very worst order is on a par with Holocaust denial. Nonetheless, it does open the door to reappraising other dictators in a positive way. Perhaps we can have a movement to reappraise Pol Pot's regime as the Kindly Khymer Rouge. Or perhaps rebranding Idi Amin as a bit of a scamp who, nevertheless, was good at dancing.

The truth about Stalin's reputation and his legacy should be clear for all to see. He was a horrific murderer, who created an inhuman dictatorship that is responsible for the deaths of millions. And any attempt to say otherwise should be doomed to utter failure.