In 1948, Aleksandr, a major in the MGB - forerunner of the KGB - is sent to a psychiatric clinic in the Ural mountains to investigate a patient, Second World War veteran Anatoly Yudin - a man long presumed dead... It's 1972, the year of Nixon's visit to Moscow; the Munich Olympics and their hostage crisis - the Cold War is entering detente, and the values that shaped Aleksandr's life become uncertain. Haunted by the past, his Stalinist faith again under threat, he interrogates his memories of the Yudin case, and tries to trace its effects on himself, and on those he loved most.

A searing thriller about the legacy of Stalin, from Booker-Prize shortlisted David Szalay It is 1948 in Russia and Aleksandr, a major in the MGB (the forerunner of the KGB) is sent to an isolated psychiatric clinic to investigate one of the patients there. The patient is a man long presumed dead - a now severely incapacitated veteran of the Second World War, who seems unable to remember any of his past. Twenty-four years later, Aleksandr is haunted by the case. With his Stalinist faith under threat as the Cold War recedes, he interrogates his memories and the effect the case had on himself and on those he loved most. 'Psychologically intricate, flawlessly researched' The Times 'Impressive' The Sunday Times 'David Szalay... has created an extraordinary character, a KGB man you can imagine knowing or even being' Observer