Revolutionary, poet, lover. Robber, murderer, spy. May 1907 and a young Stalin is in London for a conference of Russian communists. With Lenin, Trotsky, and Rosa Luxemburg among others he battles to keep the party radical, while dodging the attentions of the Czar’s secret police. He also finds himself drawn to a fiery Finnish activist, Elli Vuokko, beginning a relationship that is as dangerous as it is complicated.

Electrically-imagined, immersive and compulsively readable, Sell Us the Rope hums with the visceral energy of revolutionary fervour - Liz Jensen

Original, adept and confident... What can I say, except that I wish I had written it myself - Hilary Mantel

A fascinating and immersive imagining of real events that both challenges and illuminates history. - Benjamin Myers

Boldly conceived, precisely imagined, beautifully written. - Michael Stewart

Stephen May’s writing is convincing and engaging in this brilliant tale of revolutionary shenanigans in London. - Suzanne Joinson