Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World

Politics & Social Sciences

GORBACHEV, Mikhail

Politics & Government

Harper

This is an analysis of the causes and consequences of the coup d'etat that began in the USSR on 18 August 1991. It examines such issues as why and how the conspiracy became possible and what was behind the attempt to destroy everything that had been done over the previous six years in an effort to change the nature of Soviet society - to make it democratic, civilized and to rid the world of the threat of nuclear war. The book tells how profound social transformations in the Soviet Union were inevitably accompanied by popular discontent over the hardships of daily life, of which the coup plotters sought to take advantage. Gorbachev speaks frankly of his own mistakes and oversights regarding the differences and conflicts in the democratic movement, which the conspirators also tried to exploit. A large chapter deals with the three days in the Crimea during which the President and his family were totally isolated. Gorbachev writes of the people who showed courage and fortitude in defending democracy - a new breed of people who have learned to appreciate the new values brought to life by perestroika, who put the defence of those values above everything else. He also gives a complete account of his actions, and the reasons for those actions, during the Supreme Soviet session in late August and at the Congress of People's Deputies in early September.

August Coup the Truth and the Lessons

HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd

Here is the whole sweep of the Soviet experiment and experience as told by its last steward. Drawing on his own experience, rich archival material, and a keen sense of history and politics, Mikhail Gorbachev speaks his mind on a range of subjects concerning Russia's past, present, and future place in the world. Here is Gorbachev on the October Revolution, Gorbachev on the Cold War, and Gorbachev on key figures such as Lenin, Stalin, and Yeltsin. The book begins with a look back at 1917. While noting that tsarist Russia was not as backward as it is often portrayed, Gorbachev argues that the Bolshevik Revolution was inevitable and that it did much to modernize Russia. He strongly argues that the Soviet Union had a positive influence on social policy in the West, while maintaining that the development of socialism was cut short by Stalinist totalitarianism. In the next section, Gorbachev considers the fall of the USSR. What were the goals of perestroika? How did such a vast superpower disintegrate so quickly? From the awakening of ethnic tensions, to the inability of democrats to unite, to his own attempts to reform but preserve the union, Gorbachev retraces those fateful days and explains the origins of Russia's present crisis. But Gorbachev does not just train his critical eye on the past. He lays out a blueprint for where Russia needs to go in the next century, suggesting ways to strengthen the federation and achieve meaningful economic and political reforms. In the final section of the book, Gorbachev examines the "new thinking" in foreign policy that helped to end the Cold War and shows how such approaches could help resolve a range of current crises, including NATO expansion, the role of the UN, the fate of nuclear weapons, and environmental problems. Gorbachev: On My Country and the World reveals the unique vision of a man who was a powerful actor on the world stage and remains a keen observer of Russia's experience in the twentieth century.

Gorbachev: On My Country and the World

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Columbia University Press

On My Country and the World

Mikhail Gorbachev and Zdenek Mlynar were friends for half a century, since they first crossed paths as students in 1950. Although one was a Russian and the other a Czech, they were both ardent supporters of communism and socialism. One took part in laying the groundwork for and carrying out the Prague spring; the other opened a new political era in Soviet world politics. In 1993 they decided that their conversations might be of interest to others and so they began to tape-record them. This book is the product of that "thinking out loud" process. It is an absorbing record of two friends trying to explain to one another their views on the problems and events that determined their destinies. From reminiscences of their starry-eyed university days to reflections on the use of force to "save socialism" to contemplation of the end of the cold war, here is a far more candid picture of Gorbachev than we have ever seen before.

Conversations with Gorbachev

Mlynar, Zdenek

Conversations with Gorbachev: On Perestroika, the Prague Spring, and the Crossroads of Socialism

Here is the whole sweep of the Soviet experiment and experience as told by its last steward. Drawing on his own experience, rich archival material, and a keen sense of history and politics, Mikhail Gorbachev speaks his mind on a range of subjects concerning Russia's past, present, and future place in the world. Here is Gorbachev on the October Revolution, Gorbachev on the Cold War, and Gorbachev on key figures such as Lenin, Stalin, and Yeltsin. The book begins with a look back at 1917. While noting that tsarist Russia was not as backward as it is often portrayed, Gorbachev argues that the Bolshevik Revolution was inevitable and that it did much to modernize Russia. He strongly argues that the Soviet Union had a positive influence on social policy in the West, while maintaining that the development of socialism was cut short by Stalinist totalitarianism. In the next section, Gorbachev considers the fall of the USSR. What were the goals of perestroika? How did such a vast superpower disintegrate so quickly? From the awakening of ethnic tensions, to the inability of democrats to unite, to his own attempts to reform but preserve the union, Gorbachev retraces those fateful days and explains the origins of Russia's present crises. But Gorbachev does not just train his critical eye on the past. He lays out a blueprint for where Russia needs to go in the twenty-first century, suggesting ways to strengthen the federation and achieve meaningful economic and political reforms. In the final section of the book, Gorbachev examines the "new thinking" in foreign policy that helped to end the Cold War and shows how such approaches could help resolve a range of crises, including NATO expansion, the role of the UN, the fate of nuclear weapons, and environmental problems. On My Country and the World reveals the unique vision of a man who was a powerful actor on the world stage and remains a keen observer of Russia's experience in the twentieth century. This anniversary edition features a new foreword by William Taubman, award-winning biographer of Khrushchev and Gorbachev.

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.

Mikhail Gorbachev: Memoirs

DOUBLEDAY COMPANY

Memoirs

DOUBLEDAY

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