The Kremlin's Scholar A Memoir of Soviet Politics Under Stalin and Khrushchev Dmitrii Shepilov, Stephen V. Bittner, Anthony Austin

Dmitrii Shepilov (1905-1995), a prominent Soviet leader and member of the Communist Party elite, rose to power under Joseph Stalin in the 1940s and 1950s, then fell into political disgrace after being implicated in a coup attempt against Nikita Khrushchev in 1957. In this remarkable memoir, Shepilov provides an unparalleled account of Soviet politics during this period, as well as first-hand recollections of prominent political leaders including Stalin, Khrushchev, Mao Zedong, Lavrentii Beria, Andrei Zhdanov, and others. Secretary of the Central Committee, editor in chief of Pravda, and director of the Communist Party's Bureau of Propaganda and Agitation, Shepilov tells his story from the perspective of a true insider. His memoir sheds new light on Soviet relations with China, the aborted coup against Khrushchev, the personal rivalries that drove high-level Soviet politics, and much more. His report - dramatic, opinionated, and engaging - is an important addition to the history of his sparsely documented era.

Stephen V. Bittner is assistant professor of history at Sonoma State University. Anthony Austin is retired senior editor for the New York Times Magazine and former Moscow correspondent for the New York Times.

'...the most fascinatingly intimate memoir of Stalin since Krushchev Remembers. - Simon Sebag Montefiore, New Statesman