This account of the lives and downfall of the ghastly pair who used Romania as a personal playground for 24 years is written by an academic who visited the country many times both before and after the revolution of 1989. It was written in 1991 before the fall of the Soviet Union, so offers a fairly immediate perspective on these events. The extent of oppression, poverty and misery in Romania during their rule is vividly portrayed. They combined the worse excesses of Stalin, Kim Il Sung and Caligula and were considerably worse than other East European dictators. However, their often independent stance vis a vis the Soviet Union often made them a Cold War semi-ally of the West especially in the late 60s and 70s (less so later on), culminating in their grotesque honouring by the UK government and Queen in 1978, though many other countries also heaped them with honours and recognition. If anything, Elena emerges as the worse of the two, with her spurious claims to world-class academic achievement and her sheer banality. The world is undoubtedly a sweeter place without them, though the summary manner of their "trial" and execution on Christmas day reflects poorly on those who carried it out, many of whom must have been anxious to avoid a full public trial that would have exposed the accusers as complicit in many of the Ceausescus' crimes and abuses. 4/5 ( )