The Romanian "elections" of November 19, 1946, were staged by the Soviet Union to manufacture support for their supposedly "democratic-popular" regime. The techniques used to secure the vote were echoed all over Europe: bands of goons disrupting opposition meetings; blackmail, violence, and assassinations of top leaders; the monopolization of radio broadcasts; censorship of the press; the wide distribution of propaganda; and the direct forging of results.

Dinu C. Giurescu follows the electoral process as it developed from January to December of 1946. Her work uses testimony that was previously hidden, statements that prove the communist government in fact lost the election. The Union of the Socialist Soviet Republics, the United Kingdom, and the United States were supposed to organize the elections together, but a high soviet official took over their implementation, and both London and Washington implicitly recognized the fabricated results. Giurescu uncovers the truth behind this history, drawing on documents from the National Historical Central Archives and the National Archives in Washington, as well as newspapers, memoirs, and official reports.