Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev

The subject of this biography, Khrushchev is the son of a weak father and a dominant mother who will always feel tied to the land but struggle to escape the peasant mindset that surrounded him for his first 14 years in Kalinovka. He next moves to the industrial town of Yuzovka, where he succeeds as a metalworker, marries, begins a family, and becomes involved in radical politics, which diverts him from the education that might have led to a career as an engineer or manager. He experiences a meteoric rise in Moscow's communist party hierarchy despite mediocre performance, just as Stalin's purges are creating opportunities for younger players. He transfers to Kiev to lead both the Ukrainian government and party before World War II, serves as a lieutenant general in the Red Army during the war, and directs the Sovietization of Western Ukraine after victory. He is...