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    Gorbachev: His Life and Times
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    Gorbachev: His Life and Times
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    Gorbachev: His Life and Times
    Ebook1,253 pages19 hours

    Gorbachev: His Life and Times

    By William Taubman

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    About this ebook

    SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE

    From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and his Era, the most comprehensive portrait of the former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on 30 August 2022.

    'A phenomenally researched life of the man who did more than any other to change Europe and the world in the last half of the 20th century' Jonathan Steele, Guardian

    This is the definitive biography on one of the most important and controversial figures of the 20th century. Drawing on interviews with Gorbachev himself, transcripts and documents from the Russian archives, and interviews with Kremlin aides and adversaries, as well as foreign leaders, Taubman’s intensely personal portrait extends to Gorbachev’s remarkable marriage to a woman he deeply loved, and to the family that they raised together. Nuanced and poignant, yet unsparing and honest, this sweeping account has all the drama of a great Russian novel.

    When Mikhail Gorbachev became its leader in March 1985, the USSR was still one of the world’s two superpowers. By the end of his tenure six years later, the Communist system was dismantled, the cold war was over and, on 25 December 1991, the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist. While not solely responsible for this remarkable upheaval, he set decisive changes in motion. Assessments of Gorbachev could not be more polarised. In the West, he is regarded as a hero. In Russia, he is widely hated by those who blame him for the collapse of the USSR. Admirers marvel at this vision and courage. Detractors, including many of his Kremlin comrades, have accused him of everything from naivete to treason.

    ‘Impressive… full of fascinating detail’ Peter Conradi, Sunday Times

    'Superb…an extraordinary story of one man and history in a tense wrestling match’ Washington Post
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster UK
    Release dateSep 7, 2017
    ISBN9781471128622
    Author

    William Taubman

    William Taubman is Bertrand Snell Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Amherst College.  His 2003 book, Khrushchev: The  Man and his Era, won both the Pulitzer Prize for biography and the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography in 2004.  Taubman has been the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and chairs the Advisory Committee of the Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington.

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    • 4/5
      Naast het biografische aspect, biedt dit boek ook een fraai beeld van de geschiedenis rondom het einde van de koude oorlog en de teloorgang van het oude Rusland. Ontwikkelingen die parallel lopen met de carri?re van Gorbatsjov, van lokale partijleider tot hoogste baas van het land. Je zou met enig overdrijven kunnen zeggen dat het leven van deze politicus en partijbons regisserend is geweest bij de de totstandkoming van de Russische omwenteling waarin begrippen als ?glasnost? en ?perestrojka? de boventoon vormden. De schrijver constateert al aan het begin van het boek dat het hoogst verwonderlijk is dat een politicus van het type Gorbatsjov in Rusland zoveel ruimte kon krijgen. Ook zonder deze constatering zal de lezer zich gaan verbazen over het aanpassingsvermogen van deze politicus. Twee grote verschillen met zijn omgeving vallen in ieder geval meteen op: het intellectuele overwicht op zijn omgeving en zijn weerzin tegen militaire oplossingen van conflicten.Twee eigenschappen die binnen het Russische partijkader niet ?breed? gedeeld werden.Gorbatsjov bleek echter goed in staat om zijn eigen mening te verzwijgen en toch langzaam aan invloed te winnen. Dat is -plaats en tijd in aanmerking nemend- een wel erg bijzondere eigenschap.De rest is geschiedenis en die krijgt in dit boek ruim baan. Al lezend wordt de blijk op het ingewikkelde bestuursapparaat ruimer en valt -met westerse blik- op hoe gecompliceerd die samenleving daar was en hoe moeilijk het geweest moet zijn daarin liberale idee?n te zaaien, laat staan ze te oogsten. Zo beschouwd kun je Gorbatsjov een uiterst kundige politicus noemen.In welke mate Gorbatsjov?s regeringsperiode uiteindelijk succesvol is geweest, is een vraag die ik na lezing van het boek voor mezelf vooralsnog niet kan beantwoorden. Zijn erfenis is niet bestand geweest tegen de krachten die nadien zijn opgekomen en waarvan de huidige leiding van Rusland een typische component vormt. Dezer dagen is de staat -weliswaar zonder machtige communistische partij- weer oppermachtig en is het individu weer min of meer monddood gemaakt. Of de toenadering tot het westen echt duurzaam is, is overigens ook nog maar de vraag.Een buitengewoon boeiend boek, dat wel.