From what I've read it seems he knew how and when to go along with the revolution, and how and when to abandon it. Teaming up with creeps like Kalinin and Molotov certainly helped him along the way. He backstabbed, schemed, and crawled his way to the top. When you look at power structures, government, mafia, corporate, etc, the tactics are usually the very similar. Like Hitler, Stalin knew when to wear certain disguises and when to take them off.

Ultimately, that's the paradigm that needs to be addressed. Whether a social/political revolution has purpose and support from the people, its leaders need to be watched like a hawk. Usually, it's self-serving egomaniacs that take the revolution to its final end, and for their own end, that's what gets nations in trouble. And somehow along the way it usually also ends with mass graves, censorship, and top-down oppression. But hey, capitalism is bad and stuff so let's just pack some more families off to Siberia. That'll fix it.

I don't think Stalin was just a cynical egomaniac though, he was an ideologue who really believed in the Marxist theory of history.
You're of course right regarding the need to watch and control political leaders, as we know, power corrupts.

I'm currently reading:

"By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions"

It's an interesting non-fiction history book written by a real-life fencing champion. Very engaging and fun, easy read.

Finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King. A really great book.

Darth Plagueis

Although is not canon it´s the best way to forget the Ep. VIII. A good book of Star Wars.

The Killing Bone, by Peter Saxon. The first book in the Guardians series. I was expecting a quick, pulpy read while I've been reading It on the backburner. Instead I've gotten a slog that feels three times as long as it is. If the book wasn't only 160 pages, I probably would have dropped it for something else.

Blood of Elves
by Andrzej Sapkowski

Finally starting to read the novels.

Inferno
by Dan Brown

Not my usual cup of tea, but it's quite nice reading something that's easy to digest during lazy summer days. So far it's, for good or bad, exactly the same as all the other books by Dan Brown. Which is exactly what I wanted right now.

Goth by Otsuichi in Japanese. The novel, not the manga. My Japanese was a bit rusty but the language is simple and it got my engines running again. It is actually a collection of short stories revolving about the same characters, two students fascinated with murders and serial killers.

Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China By Angus Charles Graham.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.

Article: Die Sehnsucht nach Leben by Jens Wernicke
A personal appeal for help by the author.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Adventure VI) The Man With the Twisted Lip.

I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
(But what's the purpose of this thread? Listing very different reading material with no discussion and/or ratings, there must have been some conceivable purpose to it? Or not?)