Description
A kalideidoscopic political and intellectual history of the fall of Soviet Communism and the partition of the Soviet Union. It describes the rise and fall of Gorbachev against a background of an intensifying east-west arms race. The book provides detailed analysis of the leader's Politburo power struggles, foreign policy initiatives, reforms of nationality policy and Bloc relations, and interventions in the vast and crucial historical debates about the nature of Stalinism.