The second Russian revolution: Despatches from the front

by Gary Hart

Tolstoy struggled with the questions of the impact of historic events on great leaders and vice versa. In the case of Mikhail Gorbachev, is he the product of a failed ideology and a bankrupt economic theory? Or is he that rare character, a true leader who anticipates and therefore conditions history? Inspired by such questions, United States Senator Gary Hart set out to unearth the answers - from within the Soviet Union itself. Over many months and many visits to the Soviet Union he has interviewed several individuals who, collectively, brought Gorbachev to power. The book is the biography of an idea - fundamental reform. Stalin and Kruschev stand condemned, the Brezhnev era is now seen as stagnant and corrupt. But Andropov - hitherto much reviled in the West - managed in his brief tenure to elevate the Gorbachev cadre to power.

255 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

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Gary Hart represented the state of Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 1975 until 1987. He is the Wirth Chair professor at the University of Colorado, chairs both the Council for a Livable World and the American Security Project, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and he was cochair of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century. The commission performed the most comprehensive review of national security since 1947, predicted the terrorist attacks on America, and proposed a sweeping overhaul of U.S. national security structures and policies for the post-Cold War century and the age of terrorism. Senator Hart is the author of 17 books, including The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats, The Shield and the Cloak: Security in the Commons, and God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics.
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