‘A deeply satisfying novel. Incisive, inventive, frequently very funny’ Guardian

‘Historical facts furnish May with a cast of legends to bring to life, and he does it with verve and humour’ The Times

‘Original, adept and confident ... I wish I had written it myself’ Hilary Mantel

When it’s time to hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope.

May 1907. Young Stalin – poet, bank-robber, spy – is in London for the 5th Congress of the Russian Communist Party. As he builds his power base in the party, Stalin manipulates alliances with Lenin, Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg under the eyes of the Czar’s secret police. Meanwhile, he is drawn to the fiery Finnish activist Elli Vuokko – and risks everything in a relationship as complicated as it is dangerous.