A chronicle of the year that changed Soviet Russiaand molded the future path of one of America''s pre-eminent diplomatic correspondents
1956 was an extraordinary year in modern Russian history. It was called the year of the thawa time when Stalin''s dark legacy of dictatorship died in February only to be reborn later that December. This historic arc from rising hope to crushing despair opened with a speech by Nikita Khrushchev, then the unpredictable leader of the Soviet Union. He astounded everyone by denouncing the one figure who, up to that time, had been hailed as a genius, a wizard of communismJosef Stalin himself. Now, suddenly, this once unassailable god was being portrayed as a madman whose idiosyncratic rule had seriously undermined communism and endangered the Soviet state.
This amazing switch from hero to villain lifted a heavy overcoat of fear from the backs of ordinary Russians. It also quickly led to anti-communist uprisings in Eastern Europe, n
