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 Inside Gorbachev's KremlinThe Memoirs Of Yegor Ligachevby Stephen Cohen Apr 25, 1996
DescriptionThis memoir by the second most powerful Communist Party leader during the early Gorbachev years provides an important alternative view of the USSR’s transformation—a view that is gaining ground in Russian politics today. In a substantial new piece for this edition, Mr. Ligachev outlines the political agenda of today’s communist coalition—the establishment of a new Soviet Union, with strong economic and political integration of its member-states. Yegor Ligachev, a seasoned Party boss from Siberia, made a solid career for himself in the capital during the Khrushchev era, but, following Khrushchev’s ouster, chose to retreat to the provinces. In 1985, his political patrons brought him back to Moscow to help them build a dynamic new leadership team under Mikhail Gorbachev. The two reform-minded communists launched an effort to inject life and energy into the Party, economy, and society through a series of liberalizing measures. But when Ligachev saw the reforms moving into a revolutionary phase that could result in the Party’s loss of control over the helm of state, he found himself increasingly siding with the opposition. In this gripping book, Ligachev describes the evolving confrontation between opposing forces at high-level Party meetings and sessions of the Politburo as well as in less formal conversations. Along the way, he gives revealing glimpses not only of Gorbachev but also of Yuri Andropov, Andrei Gromyko, Alexander Yakovlev, Eduard Shevardnadze, Boris Yeltsin, and other top leaders. Notorious events such as the 1989 massacre in Tbilisi and the Gdlyan/Ivanov affair—in which, Ligachev argues, he was unjustly implicated—are also highlighted. Reviews“His memoirs gleam with nuggets of important information.... Displays a welcome understanding that written work can entertain even as it educates, obscures and sometimes misleads.” “Essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the ultimate failure of Gorbachev and his reforms.” “We expect, and find, many a juicy morsel from those remarkable years.... Mr. Ligachev’s shifting vision of Mr. Gorbachev is... what renders this book so compelling. Because Mr. Ligachev writes before the passions have cooled, his perceptions can still be viewed in all their authentic ambivalence and emotion. [But] Mr. Ligachev is simply too close and too central to serve as historian or commentator. For that, there is the excellent introduction by the Princeton historian Stephen F. Cohen, whose own conversations with Mr. Ligachev are recounted in the memoir. Mr. Cohen not only offers a critical guide through the arcane byways of an insider’s book; he argues that understanding Mr. Ligachev and what he called ‘healthy conservatism’ offers invaluable insights into a force that is certain to play a major role in shaping Russia’s destiny.” Serge Schmemann “Ligachev’s recollection, while replete with special pleading, is essential reading for an understanding of the perestroika period and the struggle for power in Moscow.” Selling TerritoryWorld |
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