In this film, Dr Alexander Titov (Queen's University of Belfast), discusses the leading figures jockeying for power after Stalin died, the short period of collective leadership, growing calls for reform within the Soviet Union and how Khrushchev gradually sidelined all of his rivals on his way to becoming Premiere of the Soviet Union.

Dr Titov examines the impact of the release and rehabilitation of political prisoners and how this led to serious questions about Stalin's repressions and purges which provided the background to his eventual secret speech.