Lenin's Embalmers is a fascinating microcosm of the early Soviet state, the scientific project of preserving the great leader, and the sudden swings of fortune that accompanied the political winds of the time. Ilya's father Boris Zbarsky was a a Jewish socialist and scientist, who in 1924 became one of the men responsible for the care of Lenin's body. A consummate political player, Boris navigated the turbulent 30s and 40s, doing well through war and family while alternately favoring and dominating his son, the author of this book. Ilya describes the shambles of the educational system in the 30s, the nightmare of disappearances under the KGB, the opulent lives of the elite, and the stunning poverty that he lived in as his family fell out of favor.

The mine line of the story ends in 1952, as the Jewish Zbarsky's found themselves on the wrong side of Stalin's paranoia. Fortunately, Stalin died before Boris could be executed, but they still lost their role in Lenin's masoleum and the Soviet scientific system. Ilya survived somehow through the 90s when he wrote this book, and it ends with a little retrospective about preserving other socialist leaders, and then turning to the private sector of dead Russian gangsters.

Over all, a small but fascinating book on a topic easily overlooked.