Perestroika and the Party


Book Description

Countless studies have assessed the dramatic reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, but their analysis of the impact on European communism has focused overwhelmingly on the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc nations. This ambitious collection takes a much broader view, reconstructing and evaluating the historical trajectories of glasnost and perestroika on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Moving beyond domestic politics and foreign relations narrowly defined, the research gathered here constitutes a transnational survey of these reforms’ collective impact, showing how they were variably received and implemented, and how they shaped the prospects for “proletarian internationalism” in diverse political contexts.




Perestroika and the Party


Book Description

Countless studies have assessed the dramatic reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, but their analysis of the impact on European communism has focused overwhelmingly on the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc nations. This ambitious collection takes a much broader view, reconstructing and evaluating the historical trajectories of glasnost and perestroika on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Moving beyond domestic politics and foreign relations narrowly defined, the research gathered here constitutes a transnational survey of these reforms’ collective impact, showing how they were variably received and implemented, and how they shaped the prospects for “proletarian internationalism” in diverse political contexts.




Perestroika


Book Description

Relates the Soviet changes in attitudes, ideas, and practices that he is implementing.




Perestroika


Book Description

Contains primary source material.




Perestroika in Partygrad


Book Description

Western visitors are more than welcome in the model city of Partygrad, conceived as a symbol of progress; but all is not quite what it seems in the "lighthouse of perestroika". This brilliant satire of Russian life unravels the complex sociological strands that existed in the former USSR, providing a unique insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet people.




Why Perestroika Failed


Book Description

This argues that Perestroika failed as the result of the lack of understanding of market and political processes with reform processes representing







Conversations with Gorbachev


Book Description

Mikhail Gorbachev and Zdenek Mlynar were friends for half a century, since they first crossed paths as students in 1950. Although one was a Russian and the other a Czech, they were both ardent supporters of communism and socialism. One took part in laying the groundwork for and carrying out the Prague spring; the other opened a new political era in Soviet world politics. In 1993 they decided that their conversations might be of interest to others and so they began to tape-record them. This book is the product of that “thinking out loud” process. It is an absorbing record of two friends trying to explain to one another their views on the problems and events that determined their destinies. From reminiscences of their starry-eyed university days to reflections on the use of force to “save socialism” to contemplation of the end of the cold war, here is a far more candid picture of Gorbachev than we have ever seen before.




The Roots of Perestroika


Book Description

With new information from Russian archives, this work examines the historical roots of Gorbachev's perestroika and the reforms that would eventually lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The controversies among Soviet leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev over party role, economic management, resource allocation, ethnic policies, legality and foreign relations are discussed. An appendix "reads between the lines" in historic Soviet texts, and a helpful list of Soviet leaders, with brief identifications, is included. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.




Six Years that Shook the World


Book Description

Focuses on the six years of perestroika in the Soviet Union and suggests that many of the problems confronting the new states were first created during this time. The book tries to explore and explain some of these developments, covering events up to August 1992.