Gorbachev and his Revolution (European History in Perspective) - Softcover

Mark Galeotti

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333638557 ISBN 13: 9780333638552

Publisher: Red Globe Press, 1997

Synopsis

By turns radical, uncertain, ambitious and autocratic, Mikhail Gorbachev and his bid to reform the Soviet Union have shaped the contemporary world. This concise and lively book provides an introduction to the man and his times, setting them in the context of a decaying and ramshackle empire and an ideology long since betrayed by its professed followers. Drawing on the latest memoirs and scholarship, this book follows Gorbachev's increasingly desperate attempts to control the forces he unleashed and hold together a state whose days were over.

About this title

Review

'The text is clear and easy to read and the select bibliography at the end of each chapter provides a good guide to the most pertinent literature in the field.' - Laura Richards Cleary, Political Studies

From the Back Cover

By turns radical, uncertain, ambitious, and autocratic, Mikhail Gorbachev in his bid to reform the Soviet Union has shaped the contemporary world. In 1985, he set out to modernize the Soviet state and revive his Communist Party. Instead, by the end of 1991, the USSR had fragmented and the Party was banned. Institutions which had survived for 70 years, notwithstanding Stalin's murderous purges and the Nazi war machine, proved unable to survive his well-meant reforms. This is a concise and lively introduction to the man and his times, setting them in the context of a decaying and ramshackle empire and an ideology long since betrayed by its professed followers. Simply and clearly, it follows Gorbachev's increasingly desperate attempts to control the forces he unleashed and hold together a state whose days were over. Ultimately, Gorbachev failed yet, as this study concludes, from his revolution arose an historic opportunity to redefine Russia's place in the world and break with a centuries-long autocratic tradition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0333638557
• ISBN 13: 9780333638552
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152