In this book, the very successful author Viktor Suvorov, a former intelligence officer of the Soviet Army, investigates Soviet documents that have recently become accessible to the public and reassesses the existing historical material in order to analyze Stalin's strategic planning for the conquest of Europe and the reasons behind his controversial support for Nazi Germany.

Stalin viewed Nazi Germany as the power that would fight and weaken the weak capitalist countries so that the Soviet armies could then sweep across all of Europe. The author also draws attention to the Non-Aggression Pact of 1939 between the USSR and Germany, which allowed Hitler to proceed with his plans and invade Poland, fueling the war in Europe.

Suvorov debunks the theory that Stalin was deceived by Hitler and that the Soviet Union was a victim of German aggression. On the contrary, he argues that Stalin neither feared Hitler nor trusted him.

Suvorov contends that after Germany conquered Poland, defeated France, and began preparing for an invasion of Great Britain, Hitler's intelligence services detected the preparations of the Soviet Union for a major war against Germany. He argues that this detection led to the plan of a preemptive war on the part of Germany and the invasion of the USSR.

Throughout the pages of the book, Stalin emerges as a devilish genius who was consumed by visions of global communist revolution at any cost – as a leader who flirted with Hitler and Germany in his quest to conquer the world. The book debunks traditional theories regarding Soviet planning before the German invasion and advocates for the need for a revised view of Stalin's true intentions.