If you want to know how evil and far thinking Stalin was, this book is for you. It answers some questions about his rule and his life. The book also made some statements that I will never forget. One line stated that when the book was written in 1997, the author interviewed some people in Russia for the book. Even after the fall of the Soviet and about 45 years after his death, people who lived during Stalin's time WERE STILL AFRAID to talk about him. Think about that, the man had been dead for about 45 years and people were STILL scared of him. Only Stalin could install that kind of fear. The author does a great job explaining everything about how Stalin operated and how he always thought one move ahead of everyone else in the Soviet Union. Anyone who is interested in the Soviet Union or anyone who wants to read about the greatest murder in history, pick up this book and be prepared to learn about how deep and evil one man could be.