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Canal de la Stalina is a 1972 Russian-language novel written by Soviet novelist Joseph Stalin. The novel exposes the democratic cancer in the high levels of contemporary Soviet society. The capitalist cancer, based on the novel, is masked by the flamboyance and the pomposity of the affluent members of Soviet society.

The book was originally written in Russian. Mao Zedong translated it into Chinese, while Leonid Brezhnev translated it into English.

Title and Setting
The title takes itself from the Canal de la Stalina, a important canal in Stalingrad. The setting is also mainly inside Stalingrad, although some scenes take place in other parts of the Soviet Union. The canal was renamed the Volga Canal in the process of De-Stalinization, which the writer Stalin lamented. The novel takes place in the 1950s, before the Soviet Union degenerated and at the high point of Stalin's reign.

Plot
Mikhail Gorbachev is a wealthy member of the Soviet Politburo who owns the Canal de la Stalina, the largest canal in all Stalingrad. However, he is accused of being 'capitalist scum' by several prominent CPSU members. He defends himself, but eventually the Soviet officials decide to take it away from Gorbachev.

Gorbachev, alarmed, hires the help of several wealthy Soviets, including Yuri Andropov, Nikolai Yezhov, and Leon Trotsky. They form an alliance called the 'Gang of Four', who are fiercely opposed to the Soviet seizure of the canal.

The Soviets kick Gorbachev from the Politburo upon hearing of what he had done. They decide to sentence him to the Gulag. However, Gorbachev flees to Turkey. Joseph Stalin, Soviet Premier, holds a public speech denouncing Gorbachev as capitalist and democratic. He then orders the NKVD, under Georgy Zhukov, to hunt the other members of the Gang of Four.

Andropov is caught near the Soviet-Iranian border trying to escape to Iran. Under forced confession, he reveals the locations of the other Gang of Four members. He is then given a helicopter ride.

However, Yezhov hears of the confession and infiltrates the NKVD, posing as an officer while giving out information to Trotsky. He takes on the name 'Konstantin Rokossovsky'.

Trotsky hides underground while Zhukov's NKVD tortures people close to him. Trotsky desperately tries to recruit other wealthy Soviets to rally against the government.

'Rokossovsky' attempts to assassinate Zhukov by using a icepick, but his bodyguards overpower him and sends him to the Gulag in Norilsk. En route, he manages to escape. His ultimate fate is unknown, however it is implied he starved to death in the Siberian wilderness.

Trotsky, the only remaining gang member in the Soviet Union, managed to gather enough followers to attempt to retake the Canal de la Stalina. The NKVD was caught by surprise, and is sent fleeing. Trotsky's followers soon take control of Stalingrad. It is renamed Trotskygrad.

A shocked Stalin immediately orders reinforcements to retake Stalingrad from Trotsky's followers. Zhukov is executed for his failure. The reinforcements are lead by charismatic Mikhail Kalinin, who Stalin trusts can do the job.

The Red Army attacks Trotskygrad from all directions, decisively defeating Trotsky's forces. The city is wrecked during the battle, when Trotsky orders the demolition of strategic points across the Volga.

An artillery strike destroys the Canal de la Stalina, flooding the surrounding area. Trotsky's command post is demolished by the flood. Trotsky's followers surrender en masse, as the Red Army under Kalinin retakes the city. Trotsky himself is presumed dead.

Stalin congratulates Kalinin, awarding him the Order of Lenin. They discuss plans to hunt down and kill Gorbachev. Eventually Stalin decides to send a small group of spies into Turkey, to report on Gorbachev's plans.

Trotsky's body is found near Astrakhan, washed up on the banks of the Volga. Gorbachev, in Turkey, attempts to garner NATO support for an armed incursion into the Soviet Union. His new goal is to install democracy in the Soviet Union, and put himself in power.