Moscow, Christmas Eve, 1949. The Soviet secret police intercept a call made to the American embassy by a Russian diplomat who promises to deliver secrets about the nascent Soviet Atomic Bomb program. On that same day, a brilliant mathematician is locked away inside a Moscow prison that houses the country's brightest minds. He and his fellow prisoners are charged with using their abilities to sleuth out the caller's identity, and they must choose whether to aid Joseph Stalin's repressive state -- or refuse and accept transfer to the Siberian Gulag camps and almost certain death. --from publisher description.

Previously published (1968) in a shortened and altered ed., with title: The first circle. "The first uncensored edition."--Cover.