Product Description

The former Russian leader who dismantled his country's empire offers his long-awaited autobiography, recounting his extraordinary rise within the Party, his disenchantment with communism, his relations with the U.S., and his attempt to create a peaceful revolution. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #616119 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-01
• Released on: 1996-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 769 pages

Amazon.com Review
There may be no more enigmatic public figure than Mikhail Gorbachev. This leader who guided the Soviet Union out of the quagmire of socialism and paved the way for the liberation of Eastern Europe is forgotten, even reviled, in his own land. Gorbachev's massive autobiography hints at why he has been relegated to the dustbin of history by the very people he helped set free. Capable of asking the big questions, by nature and by training he was only able to attend to the small details. Looking back on his career as a Communist bureaucrat, he wonders, "How was it that any initiative which patently served the interests of society was immediately viewed with suspicion and even overt hostility? Why was our system so unresponsive to renewal and innovation? Other [questions] crossed my mind. But I was much too busy to give them serious consideration."

From Library Journal
The former Soviet leader looks back on his rise from tractor operator to architect of perestroika, glasnost, and the end of the Cold War. A timely reminder of what made Gorbachev so revolutionary back in 1985, these memoirs offer a detailed but readable chronicle of his achievements at the top, with the domestic and foreign policy aspects of perestroika covered, chronologically, in separate sections that comprise two thirds of the book. Highly educated compared with his predecessors, Gorbachev is remarkably fair, even to political enemies like Yeltsin, and it often seems that being too nice was part of his undoing. Especially revealing are the real or perceived limits on his power, at the top, to carry out reforms at home despite his successes in foreign policy. Longish but absorbing for informed readers, particularly when recounting his humble beginnings, this is strongly recommended for academic and public libraries.
-?Robert Decker, Palo Alto, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Highly anticipated, these memoirs are hampered by Gorbachev's attempt to address two audiences: Russians and the world abroad. American eyes (except those of scholars) will be glazing over as the author, primarily addressing his compatriots and prone to quoting pages from his own speeches, explains the reforms he forced onto the Communist Party. Yet because of their celebrity-obsessed reading habits, Americans will be fascinated by Gorbachev's autobiographical passages on how he reached the peak of power. It was a typical apparatchik's ascent, during which Gorbachev discreetly hid his doubts about the Stalinist system while impressing powerful patrons, such as KGB boss Yuri Andropov, with his pragmatic, can-do political skills. Thus Gorby was plucked from the provinces in 1978 for the thankless task of fixing the Achilles' heel of the Soviet economy--agriculture. This appointment opens the memoir. In recounting it, Gorbachev dwells less on his failure to fix the collective farm system than on on his position in the geriatric Politburo, about whose "total disarray" he delivers many a colorful vignette. After an interlude recalling his upbringing in the 1930s and 1940s, sadly typical for the times (both grandfathers arrested; his father wounded in the war), Gorbachev returns to defending his leadership of the USSR and the part incessant power struggles played in the failure of his reform effort. (Yeltsin takes heavy criticism and is accused of faking a suicide attempt.) A memoir of historical importance, these recollections, as a long-term resource, will be best for larger libraries. Gilbert Taylor

Customer Reviews

Amazing look at the Inside of the Soviet Union
Patience, and a lot of it. That's what you'll need if you want to read this book, especially if you aren't Russian or a Sovietologist (do they still exist?). The division of the book is into four parts, the first deals with the years before he took the helm in the former USSR. This is the part that you really have to slog it out, especially with the names, places, and also the various positions that he held in the Communist party (the glossary at the end is definitely necessary)... For me this was the least interesting part of the book and if you can get over this initial hump, the rest of the book is very interesting and of course informative.

The second part is especially interesting since it deals with Gorbachev's ascent into the highest seat in the Soviet Union. He goes into quite some length dealing with the issues surrounding Perestroika and the difficulties involved in making Perestroika work. He is good enough to give the reader some background information on the Communist party, its structures, and the founding fathers, Lenin and Stalin, as well as his other predecessors, Brezhnev, Adropov etc...Quite personal at times and very insightful, especially for those who aren't very familiar with the former Soviet Union.

Part III, which deals with the USSR's relationship with the outside world is a must read, especially as it deals with how Gorbachev, and not the U.S was the one who began the process that culminated in the end of the "Cold war". Gorbachev also speaks about how Yeltsin's lust for power was one of the factors that led to the breakup of the Soviet Union, and here perhaps the reader would be wise to consult other books that give Yeltsin's point of view.

The 1991 coup is dealt with in the last part. It is a very personal account of the coup with some private notes from his wife, Raisa Maksimovna's journal. You can't help but pity him for the treatment he received at the hands of Boris Yeltsin after his resignation.
This is quite a lengthy book, but well worth the effort. I'd suggest this book to anyone interested in the history of Russia or Perestroika and the man behind it.

He Changed the History of the World
In the latter part of the 20th Century, Mikhail Gorbachev changed the history of the world. He undid the unhappy results of the Russian Revolution and its version of communism which imprisoned Russia and the Soviet Union in totalitarianism. Almost single-handed, he brought the nerve-wracking Cold War to a peaceful end.

In his determination to rid his country of the stultifying bureaucratic thought and practices which prevented the full flowering of an idealistic version of Socialism, he broke open old seals to let in light, fresh air and innovative thought. Alas, for Soviet-style communism, the new air and new light caused it to shrivel and die.

Little did Mr. Gorbachev realize the unintended consequences of his acts, first as General Secretary of the Communist Party and later as Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet. Little did he realize that when the ties of totalitariansim were loosened that the Soviet Union would disintegrate almost overnight.

Well, that's all history now -- and it is an historical "given" that Gorbachev's innovations of glasnost and perestroika stimulated thought and ambition and the courage to break from the past. His Memoirs are important -- not for the political analysis of why what happened actually did happen but for what they tell about the man Gorbachev, his ambitions for himself and for his country.

Some might find the day by day chronicle irritating slow, but I did not. In the first third of this long book, Mr. Gorbachev relates his life prior to his rise to power; interesting because he describes his rural, farm-life background which explains much about the man he ultimately became. The final two-thirds of his Memoirs describes Soviet history and Mr. Gorbachev's role in it during its last days.

Famous, historical personalities populate its pages. He was diplomatically kind in describing the U.S. presidents he had to deal with -- Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush. In contrast, he was severely critical of some of his Russian colleagues, particularly Boris Yeltsin who, not surprisingly, comes off like a crude, duplicitous vodka-swilling opportunist.

The world has not been the same since Mikhail Gorbachev's ascendency in the Soviet Union. His personal Memoirs are historically important and worth the time -- and occasionally -- the patient effort to read them.

From the man himself
This is a detailed and fairly honest account from the man that changed the world.

The first part of the memoirs discusses his early life and rise to General Secretary. It is interesting in that it gives insight into the Kruschev/Breshnev system at different levels.

The second and much larger part describes his time as General Secretary. It is a detailed blow by blow account of people and plenums etc. But not so much on the actual policies and issues. Quite a lot on interactions with foreign leaders -- his description of Reagon is interesting. But Rememeber that Gorbachev was about the USSR, not the USA etc.

Be aware that these are memoirs, not an objective history. Gorbachev writes from his own perspective.

Gorbachev largely failed in the end. Could someone else have succeded? I doubt it, there were just too many obsticles. Indeed the situation in the USSR states today could be a lot worse, and their semi-democratic systems are tribute to Gorbachev.

As a foreign reader I did become a little lost in the detail of communist burocracy. This detail was, of course, the life of Gorbachev, but he does assume that you know it. There is a very poorly written forward that tries to cover the gap, the work deserves better.

There are probably better books that discuss this period of soviet history. But this is from the man himself, source material.