Chapter 1 Summary

In October 1964, Nikita Khrushchev is strolling with his chief ally on the Presidium, Anastas Mikoyan, when the secure phone rings. The Soviet Union's economic situation is grim. The military and the intelligentsia are unhappy. Rather than take a badly needed vacation, Khrushchev has spent the summer in typical perpetual, ineffectual motion. The caller is protygy Leonid Brezhnev, insisting Khrushchev return to Moscow for a special meeting. Khrushchev's children have alerted him to a conspiracy but he discounts the information. Khrushchev orders his plane readied and goes to bed, tired and distraught.

In the Kremlin, Brezhnev launches the attack on how Khrushchev has contradicted Leninist doctrines, sown disorganization, ignored colleagues' opinions, and acted unilaterally. Rude, ineffective leadership has left the Soviet Union in ruins, domestically and internationally. When the verbal assault resumes in the morning, Khrushchev is told giving him the responsibilities of prime...