There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen. – B.I. Lenin

In April 1917, when the abdication of Tsar Nicholas shook wartime Europe, the future leader of the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin, was far away, exiled in Zurich. Once he heard the news, he decided to return to Petrograd. But to get there, he had to cross Germany, which meant accepting help from Russia's most deadly enemy.

The German government, for its part, saw an opportunity to further destabilize Russia by allowing Lenin and the small group of revolutionaries accompanying him to return. Some believed Lenin was merely a "useful idiot," others thought he would be immediately imprisoned and executed, while still others believed he had very few followers and even less influence. As it would turn out, they were all very wrong.

Drawing from an impressive array of sources and newly available archival material, Katherine Merindayl offers a gripping account of this railway journey with the unusual passengers that would change the world, as well as the conspiracies and tricks needed to make it happen – set against the backdrop, among other things, of Russia's half-forgotten liberal revolution.

When Lenin arrived at the now-famous Finland Station in Petrograd, he delivered an explosive speech in front of the passionate crowd. Simple and extreme, this speech has been compared to monumental texts such as the Edict of Milan and Martin Luther's 95 Theses. It was the moment when the Russian Revolution became Soviet, the birth of a system of power and belief that forever changed the history of Russia and transformed the international political landscape.