This novel presents the thoughts of a dying man as he contemplates his life and the events leading to his death. Nikola Petkov, the head of the Agrarian Party and the last significant opposition leader to defy the Communist takeover of Bulgaria, was hung in 1947 after a show trial in Sofia. Thomas McGonigle records Petkov's last minutes, mixing history and fiction, biography and imagination, and in so doing crafts a compelling testament to both a man and a country.