1953 is a turning point in Russian history, the year of Joseph Stalin's death. The entire subsequent fate of Russia depended on the balance of power and who would become Stalin's successor. But the posthumous will of the leader was violated - the one whom he was preparing to be his successor was hastily arrested and shot without trial. Then the winners got rid of the evidence, flooded the archives with fakes and completely rewrote the history of the USSR. The author of the book, Elena Prudnikova, in her book tries to restore the catastrophic events of 1953 step by step in order to return their internal logic and connection.