Gorbachev and his Revolution

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.

Auteur

Dr Mark Galeotti runs the Mayak Intelligence consultancy and is also an Honorary Professor at UCL, a Senior Associate Fellow with RUSI and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague. Formerly Head of History at Keele University in the UK and Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, he is a former Foreign Office adviser on Russian security affairs, and for 15 years (1991-2006) wrote a monthly column on this for Jane's Intelligence Review.

Contenu

The Decay of the Soviet Union
Yurii Andropov and the Rise of Mikhail
Gorbachev Electing Gorbachev
Gorbachev the Technocrat: Uskoreniye and the Attempt to Modernise
Gorbachev the Reformer: Glasnost' and Perestroika
Gorbachev the Gambler: Democratisation
Gorbachev the Revolutionary: the End of the Soviet Union
Appendices
Chronology
Gallery of Main Characters
Bibliography and Guide to Further Reading
Index
Map.