Memoirs

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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.

The New York Times Book Review, Bill Keller
In an age of cynics, [Gorbachev] was, and on the evidence of Memoirs remains, an idealist.

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

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian


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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. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/96.]Robert Decker, Palo Alto, Cal.


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