The Year I Was Peter the Great: 1956-Khrushchev, Stalin's Ghost, and a Young American in Russia

A chronicle of the year that changed Soviet Russia—and molded the future path of one of America's pre-eminent diplomatic correspondents
1956 was an extraordinary year in modern Russian history. It was called “the year of the thaw”—a time when Stalin's dark legacy of dictatorship died in February only to be reborn later that December. This historic arc from rising hope to crushing despair opened with a speech by Nikita Khrushchev, then the unpredictable leader of the Soviet Union. He astounde...