Jonathan Schneer was born in New York City. He earned his BA from McGill University and his PhD from Columbia University. He has taught at Boston College and Yale University and is currently the professor of modern British history at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has held numerous fellowships in the US and UK and is the author of five previous books, most recently The Lockhart Plot, now available from Oxford University Press. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
After the murder of a Chekist and an attempt on his own life, Lenin turned towards more draconian measures to consolidate power and contain international intrigue.