A book by
Arthur Koestler set during the 1930s
show trials in communist Russia.
Rubashov, an old hero of the Bolshevik Revolution, is arrested and put on trial for crimes against the state that he hasn't commited. Rubashov is asked by Number One (Stalin) to give his life for the greater good of the state and so is forced to analyze the actions he has taken and the validity of his philosophy and that of his state.