This action-packed WWII historical thriller revolves around an explosive dossier on Joseph Stalin that was compiled first by Okhrana, the czarist secret police, and then by Leon Trotsky. The NKVD and SMERSH, two warring parties within the Russian secret police, and the gestapo have all been after the file. It has the power to destroy Stalin and change the map of Europe! Captain Karl Michael Vogel, a Russian expelled by Stalin during his "great turning point," is the holder of the secret file and a person of great interest to the warring security forces. The story finds him escaping certain death at the hands of the gestapo, thanks to the bombing of Dresden. He returns to his Luftwaffe unit so he can continue to fight the American armadas of B-17 Flying Fortresses with the Messerschmitt 262-the fastest plane in the world. Before it's all over, Vogel will escape from capture numerous times, fly daring missions, take up with Ukrainian peasants, and endure weeks of hardship in a filtration camp. All the while, he is working out how he can use the Okhrana file to his advantage as Stalin does whatever it takes to keep his dark secret hidden.