This fact-filled biography of the Russian diplomat Georgi Chicherin was released in 1986 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. Chicherin, a Russian aristocrat, was jailed in London not long after the 1917 Revolution. Lenin gets him released and puts him in charge of foreign relations for the new USSR. Chicherin soon finds himself in Italy, hobnobbing with the likes of Lloyd George and the King of Italy (quite a contrast to his stay in prison). Involved in the first signing of a peace accord with Germany, Chicherin has to follow orders even if he personally does not agree with the accord. But at the same time, he put all his efforts into obtaining the accord, and in so doing breaks the diplomatic blockade of his now Communist homeland. Chicherin's career unfolds against a tumultuous historical backdrop.
by Eleanor Mannikka
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