Khrushchev on Khrushchev: An Inside Account of the Man and His Era, by His Son, Sergei Khrushchev

by Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev, William Taubman (Translator)

The son of the late Soviet leader offers a portrait of his father's life and political career, focusing on the years 1964-1971

Genres: Russia, History, Biography

472 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

son of Nikita Khrushchev

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty interesting to see a son watch his father’s political career come to end. The son had just enough privilege to try to earn his father’s favor, but not enough to be take seriously by him. I was going to say that it speaks well of the father to have raised such a decent son, but then Svetlana was a conflicted but generally decent woman and that shouldn’t do anything for her father’s justly execrable reputation.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sergei Khrushchev loved his mother country and he respected and adored his famous father, which is as it should be. But he was also a realist. Maybe that’s why he came to the U.S. and became a citizen.
I’m a child of the 1950s so I recall well the American political caricature of his father and of the political system he led.
This book offers an honest, loving and more nuanced view of Nikita Khrushchev, but also reveals the repression of free thought and daily life in the USSR. Even as a loyal Soviet, Sergei Khrushchev saw the repression at so many levels and tried for a long time to rehabilitate his father’s legacy in spite of it.
If you recall Nikita, or find the Cold War intriguing, this is a must read.

[LA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written, but an interesting evaluation of Nikita, written by his son.

[patricia j patane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insider's look at one of history's most interesting characters. I remember when Khruschev toured the U.S. passing through a town nearby on the train. I also remember the publishing of his memoirs but had no idea of the back story. His son gives a very interesting insight into his father, a very complicated man who dared to expose Stalin's crimes and exonerate some of his victims but also was responsible for the Cuban missile crisis, and the start of the Cold War. His famous shoe pounding speech at the UN. He was also premier when Russia first sent a man into space. I was a little disappointed that the book only concerned the last part of his life, I was hoping for more information about his relationship with Stalin but Sergei Khrushchev was his youngest son and as he mentions Stalin never invited the wives to any of his parties let alone their children.
Sadly I waited almost too long to read up on Khrushchev, his memoirs were no longer on the shelves of any of our local libraries. This was the only copy I could find of his son's book. He played a very interesting role in history and without him, Russia in the 20th century could have gone quite a different direction.

[Celine Calpo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for an interview with Khrushchev's son himself, Sergei. I think it was apropos that while I was reading this book, we were doing a dystopian unit in my lit class on Zamyatin's, Huxley's and Orwell's work (Sergei mentions Orwell in this memoir btw). You know that really messed up stuff they do in those novels? It really happened. The secret police is real. Big Brother is watching you. Hopefully I can formulate great questions for the interview and finally call him up. Can't wait to ask him to elaborate more on how he felt as Nikita's son and how terrifying it must have been to have lived through that. Also, I wonder if he thinks perestrioka's working.

[Hancock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't read it. It is very dull and the prose is lifeless.