Are there any good books about Stalin's life that aren't

>>1387360
Most unbiased sources, like diaries of Anatoly Chernayev who read some classified info on him, generally show him as a very shallow and petty person with love for raunchy jokes.

Ironically enough, Chernayev himself looks like a very shallow and petty person with love for raunchy jokes in his diaries.

Latest Stalin biography by Oleg Khlevniuk

The Court of the Red Tzar is pretty fucking based. It isn't critical of Stalin, but it also doesn't sugarcoat his flaws. Excellent book.

Conversations with Stalin by Milovan Djilas. Djilas was a Yugoslav communist dissident who went to Moscow to meet with Stalin on several occasions during and after WW2. He gives some interesting depictions about Stalin's personality in private. Particularly interesting are parts about Stalin's view on western democracies and post-war Soviet satellites.