The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 presented a rare opportunity: a new regime ready to unlock the secret archives of the former Soviet Communist Party and State. The Hoover Institution, whose own archives document a century of war, revolution, and peace, worked quickly to seize the moment. From 1991 to 2002, Charles Palm led efforts to microfilm and publish ten million pages relating to the Communist Party, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD), the Gulag's forced labor camps, and more. In his memoir-which also features an introduction by renowned historian Stephen Kotkin and a supplementary narrative by British publisher and project partner Charles Chadwyck-Healey-Palm details the excitement, challenges, and ultimate success of the project.