Paul Keres, one of the greatest players of the 20th century not to become world champion, was a participant in the 1948 World Championship Match-Tournament held in the Hague and Moscow. The former champion, Alexander Alekhine, had died in 1946 in possession of the crown, so five players: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky, and Max Euwe competed for the vacant title. (Reuben Fine was also invited, but declined to participate, while Miguel Najdorf was arguably deprived of a rightful spot in the event due at least in part to Botvinnik's dislike for Najdorf. See the book reviewed here - though not the review itself - for more on that topic.)
Botvinnik won the event and the title, in large part thanks to his dominance over Keres in their mini-match. Botvinnik won their first four games, only losing the last game after he had already clinched clear first by a significant margin. Their games in that event have been the subject of enormous speculation, with a significant minority maintaining that Keres was forced to throw the games or at least play below his best. (I don't subscribe to this thesis myself, though I think it has more going for it than sour grapes that the universally beloved Keres lost to the far less lovable Botvinnik.)
While the machinations behind the scenes are fascinating (and perhaps tragic for Keres and/or Najdorf), they shouldn't be dwelt on to the point that one forgets that this was a great chess event, with five all-time greats playing a total of 20 games against each other. Those games have long been available through various databases, of course, but decent analytical coverage has been scarce until now. Keres's own book of the event had long been available in Russian, and has been widely praised. (Garry Kasparov once called it one of the three best chess books ever written, which would ideally be followed by a mic drop and everyone ordering the book.)
It is now available in English, and I heartily recommend that anyone interested in good chess content or the history of the game give him- or herself a belated Christmas present and order a copy. (I'm about to do so myself.)
HT: Mutlu Arpaci