The danger-loving bisexual diplomat who tamed Joseph Stalin
A murderous dictator, a megalomaniac, a psychopath – I’ve heard Joseph Stalin described as many things but never as a pet possum. That’s what Archibald Clark Kerr, Britain’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1942 to 1946, saw in the Soviet leader: “a possum you would get very fond of, against your better judgement, but would have to keep a sharp eye on, lest he nip you in the buttocks out of sheer mischief”. Archie, as the maverick diplomat was called by everyone, met Stalin in March 1942. Smo