Until his defection in 1969, Georgi Markov was Bulgaria's leading novelist and playwright Once settled in Britain he wrote this book which is a devastating critique of Bulgarian life under Communism The book was broadcast on Radio Free Europe and it was estimated that over five million Bulgarians tuned in He was warned that he would be killed if he did not stop On 7th September 1978 he was stabbed in the thigh with an umbrella containing a ricin pellet and died soon after