The Secret Speech refers to Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin as a ruthless tyrant. This sets off societal changes in the Soviet Union. Former Secret Police Officer Leo Demidov finds himself headed for a Siberian gulag to break a prisoner out. Tom Rob Smith’s description of life in the gulag is hair-raising. The plot also involves criminal gangs who operate on the margins of Soviet society. The winds of change kick up violence and murder. If you’re interested in a harrowing story of life in the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s, The Secret Speech will take you there. GRADE: B
Yet another reminder of why the Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the great tragedies of the political history, at least, of the last century…I consider it key to the deposition of NK and the return of less-qualified Stalinism to the USSR, the assassination of JFK, the failures more than the successes of the Johnson Admin, and the eventual election of Nixon and then Reagan and all that that has wrought, and all so the two Ks (Kafka resonance intentional), particularly JFK, could posture Manfully, while sensibly trading Cuban for Turkish missiles behind the scenes (which Should’ve been front and center, damn it).
You’re right, Todd. History turned when NK and JFK were removed from the world stage. Together, they could have forged a completely different (and better) future.