Chapter 21 Summary

The Pravda announcement of Khrushchev's ouster two days after the fact, describing his method of ruling vividly but does not mention his name. Security and communications at his Lenin Hills residence and dacha are changed and his transportation downsized. Khrushchev is depressed at being a loafer. Nina learns second-hand of her husband's ouster while vacationing with Brezhnev's wife. She hurries home from Prague and takes control of the household. As a party member, she accepts the decision and may even have been relieved. Khrushchev wants neither to be consoled nor comforted. He takes long walks. Visitors are few and not desired. Sergei tries to interest him in hydroponics, but the light has gone out of his eyes. In the autumn, Khrushchev is ordered to vacate his dwellings for a smaller Moscow apartment and dacha. Khrushchev sits silently through the celebration of a last...