Chapter 9 Summary

Stalin suffers small strokes in 1945 and 1947 and spends more time at the Black Sea, feeling lonely and growing pathologically paranoid. The revolution degenerates into Russia-first chauvinism and the settling of scores with bloodshed. Formal meetings give way to bizarre all-night drink- and movie-fests by Stalin and his inner circle of Beria, Malenkov, Bulganin, and Khrushchev. Meals are agonizing and interminable, as Stalin makes everyone but Beria sample dishes before he will eat. Stalin forces his guests to drink themselves in a stupor, wanting to loosen their tongues to learn what they are thinking. Khrushchev finds this shameful and disgraceful. Khrushchev is a favorite target Stalin's practical jokes and smiles performing gopaks, because when Stalin says dance, a wise man dances. Wise men also endure Stalin's long-winded stories. It is better to be humiliated than annihilated.

To vacation with Stalin at the Black Sea...