Examining communist Romania where Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu ran a personal dictatorship for nearly a quarter of a century. Abortion and contraception were banned as the Ceausescus' rule reached far into the private lives of every Romanian. When communism collapsed, the self-styled "mother and father of the nation" met their end in front of a firing squad.

Examining how Czechoslovakia's attempts to reform communism were brutally crushed in an invasion by the Soviet Union and members of its Warsaw Pact allies in 1968. What followed was the re-imposition of hardline communist rule known as "normalisation", where the reformers were removed, the reforms reversed and history rewritten.

Series painting a picture of a way of life that disappeared with the sudden collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989. The first edition focuses on the former East Germany, where leaders claimed to be creating a paradise.