In these pages, Stalin's psychology is fully revealed, every atom of his madness explored, every twist of his homicidal logic followed to its ruthless conclusion. In a book with the suspense of a thriller and the accuracy of a work of history, the mind responsible for some of the twentieth century's most horrifying crimes is laid bare.

The novel opens with Stalin infuriated-and worried-that Trotsky is writing his biography from exile in Mexico City. He believes Trotsky's book is a double threat-a character assassination and a search for past crimes. But Trotsky's account also forces Stalin to reflect on his own life. We see him as a sly and domineering schoolboy, battling a sadistic father and struggling against a mother who dreams of him entering the priesthood. From these humble but troubled beginnings grows a young man who questions everything-morality, evil, the existence of God-and who finds answers to justify dictatorship and slaughter.

This is a story of two crimes-one, the assassination of Trotsky, which Stalin slowly choreographs, and the other an unspeakable murder that Stalin struggles to hide and which Trotsky is about to discover. Stalin's relentless interior monologue-skirting around these crimes, fleshing out the details of his life-draws us into his world of perversity until we are face-to-face with the presence of evil. The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin is an awe-inspiring feat of storytelling.