Book summary

Peter Carlson transforms an obscure historical tidbit into an entertaining and insightful look at the frightening absurdity of the Cold War. In 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his wife Nina paid a visit to the United States, where they spent ten days taking in sights and experiences which ranged from an Iowa cooking class to a Hollywood movie set to an abbreviated trip to Disneyland. Ostensibly, Khrushchev's purpose was to demonstrate communism's disdain for the luxuries afforded by capitalism, a high principle which resulted in several emotional eruptions, as he periodically lashed out against the gluttonous and lavish nature of American life. Carlson's often hilarious recap of the Khrushchevs' remarkable road trip features memorable interactions with Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, and Frank Sinatra. But despite the obvious temptation to lapse into irrelevant parody, Carlson never loses sight of the significance of the venture, as he vividly illuminates the hidden motivations behind Khrushchev's unusual behavior and the underlying insight of this extraordinary historical episode.

Media reviews

"Carlson seems to have sought and discovered every piece of arcana associated with...[Khruschev's] American sojourn. A deft and amusing writer, Carlson does a marvelous job of recounting it....[I]t won't be easy to top this sparkling effort."