This is the documentary story of the man who subverted the Russian Revolution: born in 1879 in Georgia, a region colonized by Russia at the beginning of the 19th century; studied for the priesthood but soon abandoned piety for insurrection and agitation. By the time of the Revolution, his unique skills had emerged: to be in the right place at the right time and leave the speechifying to others while accumulating political power behind the scenes. Suppressing Lenin’s dying wish that Stalin be replaced, he became Lenin’s heir. Unable to achieve his objectives by consensus, he imposed them by fiat. The program follows the struggles and betrayals of the 1920s, the atrocities and loss of hope of the 1930s, the dreadful carnage of World War II, the sleight of hand by which Stalin imposed his conditions on Roosevelt and Churchill, and the end of this man, who brought so much suffering to so many. His cronies would have to die as well before the Era of Stalin could truly end. (90 minutes, b&w/color)