Explores the causes and implications of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, an unholy covenant whose creation and dissolution were crucial turning points in World War II. Forged by the German foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and his Soviet counterpart, Vyacheslav Molotov, the nonaggression treaty briefly united the two powers in a brutally efficient collaboration. Together, the Germans and Soviets quickly conquered and divided central and eastern Europe; Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, and Bessarabia. The human cost was staggering: during the two years of the pact hundreds of thousands of people in central and eastern Europe caught between Hitler and Stalin were expropriated, deported, or killed.

A meeting on the boundary of peace -- The devil's potion -- Bonded in blood -- Sharing the spoils -- Contortions -- A rough, uncertain wooing -- Oiling the wheels of war -- Comrade "Stonearse" in the lair of the fascist beast -- Riding the Nazi tiger -- No honor among thieves -- Life after death -- Appendix: text of the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact.