"Ana Pauker, when she is remembered at all, is thought of as the puppet of Soviet communism in Romania, blindly enforcing the most brutal and repressive Stalinist regime. Robert Levy's new biography dramatically changes the picture, revealing a woman of remarkable strength, dominated by conflict and contradiction far more than by dogmatism. The daughter of poor Orthodox Jewish parents, Pauker rose to the pinnacle of power in a country traditionally disdainful of women and Jews.

Yet this woman whom Time Magazine described in 1948 as "the most powerful woman alive" has been buried under a myth of mindless loyalty to Stalin and such fanaticism that she supposedly could denounce her own husband, Marcel Pauker, as a traitor, which Levy proves she did not do.".

"The life of Ana Pauker (1893-1960) offers an unparalleled look inside the workings of Soviet communism in East Central Europe. A new perspective on Zionism and the treatment of Romanian Jews emerges from the story of Pauker's ties to her Jewish family, especially to her brother Zalman Rabinsohn. The career of this dynamic, duplicitous woman, who sought and exercised more power than most men of her or any generation, makes for good reading."--BOOK JACKET.