Nicolae Ceausescu - The Genius of the Carpathians (Biography)

Nicolae Ceausescu - The Genius of the Carpathians is the biography of Nicolae Ceausescu, the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a revolution and coup removed him from power. The revolutionaries held a two-hour trial and sentenced him to death for crimes against the state, genocide, and "undermining the national economy." The hasty trial has been criticized as a kangaroo court. Ceausescu's subsequent execution marked the final act of the Revolutions of 1989. Initially, Ceausescu was a popular figure in Romania, due to his independent foreign policy, challenging the supremacy of the Soviet Union in Romania. In the 1960s, he ended Romania's active participation in the Warsaw Pact (though Romania formally remained a member); he refused to take part in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces, and openly condemned that action. Although the Soviet Union largely tolerated Ceausescu's recalcitrance, his seeming independence from Moscow earned Romania maverick status within the Eastern Bloc. It is alleged that Ceausescu was supported overtly and covertly by the United States throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Romania gained most favoured nation trading status in 1975, six years after a favourable visit by President Richard Nixon. Nicolae Ceausescu - The Genius of the Carpathians is highly recommended for those interested in learning more about this controversial leader of Romania.