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Why Gorbachev Happened: His Triumphs and His Failure
Explains the Soviet leader's ascent and describes how the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe began with the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev summit
476 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Robert G. Kaiser
16 books7 followersRobert G. Kaiser is associate editor and senior correspondent of The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1963.
Kaiser began at The Washington Post as a summer intern while still a college student. He has served as a special correspondent in London (1964–67), a reporter on the city desk in Washington, D.C. (1967–69), foreign correspondent in Saigon (1969–70) and Moscow (1971–74). He returned to the national staff in Washington and worked as a reporter for seven years, covering labor, the U.S. Senate, the 1980 presidential campaign and the first Ronald Reagan administration.
In 1982 Kaiser became associate editor of The Washington Post and editor of "Outlook", a Sunday section of commentary and opinion. He also wrote a column for the section. From 1985 to 1990 he was assistant managing editor for national news. From 1990 to 1991 he was deputy managing editor, and from 1991 to 1998 served as the paper's managing editor. He began his current assignment in September 1998.
Kaiser's work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Esquire, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. He has been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered, and has appeared often on Meet the Press, the Today show and other television programs.
In 2007, he wrote a series of articles there based on interviews of lobbyist Gerald Cassidy on the topic of lobbying in the United States.
Kaiser began at The Washington Post as a summer intern while still a college student. He has served as a special correspondent in London (1964–67), a reporter on the city desk in Washington, D.C. (1967–69), foreign correspondent in Saigon (1969–70) and Moscow (1971–74). He returned to the national staff in Washington and worked as a reporter for seven years, covering labor, the U.S. Senate, the 1980 presidential campaign and the first Ronald Reagan administration.
In 1982 Kaiser became associate editor of The Washington Post and editor of "Outlook", a Sunday section of commentary and opinion. He also wrote a column for the section. From 1985 to 1990 he was assistant managing editor for national news. From 1990 to 1991 he was deputy managing editor, and from 1991 to 1998 served as the paper's managing editor. He began his current assignment in September 1998.
Kaiser's work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Esquire, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. He has been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered, and has appeared often on Meet the Press, the Today show and other television programs.
In 2007, he wrote a series of articles there based on interviews of lobbyist Gerald Cassidy on the topic of lobbying in the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 29, 2020
" In just over five years, Mikhail Gorbachev transformed the world. He turned his own country upside down. He woke a sleeping giant, the people of the Soviet Union, and gave them freedoms they had never dreamed of. He also gave them their own horrific history, which his predecessors had hidden and distorted for sixty years. He tossed away the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe with no more then a fare-thee-well. "
Robert G. Kaiser's Why Gorbachev Happened. His Triumphs & His Failure is the best of the 10 books about Soviet and Russian leaders in the second half of the 20th century that I have recently read and reviewed here on Goodreads (the list is included after the rating). The main reason for my enthusiastic recommendation is that while the book should be clear and understandable to people who have never had close contact with the Soviet ideology it is still deep enough to offer stunning insights and teach a lot of new things to people like this reviewer, who were born, raised, and spent about half of their lives in the shadow of the Soviet ideology.
For several days I have been struggling with the rating. I really wanted to give this outstanding book five stars. But I can't. I reserve the maximum rating only for perhaps one in 20 books, ones that are virtually perfect in every possible sense, in other words, masterpieces. And I see one clear flaw of Mr. Kaiser's book - the slightly misleading main title. I don't really think the author explains why Gorbachev happened. He explains how he happened, but not why. In fact, I don't think it is possible to answer the "why" question. Mikhail Gorbachev happened to be - through the most powerful force of the universe, that is randomness - the right person at the right time. Most other potential leaders would not achieve that much at that time of the Soviet empire, yet had he come at a different time of Soviet history he would have not achieved much.
I certainly lack the skills to produce a full-blown review of this wonderful book so in the following paragraphs I will just point out - in an itemized form - few things that made the strongest impression on me.
Liberation of Eastern Europe: Since I am Polish by birth the liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet influence in the late 1980s was probably the most important political event I have ever witnessed. I am happy to report that the author seems to validate my point of view that the liberation was mainly due to Mr. Gorbachev's actions:
Truth about Stalin: The author makes an argument that Gorbachev's persistence and successes in denouncing Stalinism were one of the main reasons of the fall of the Soviet Union. I would add here that the first time the world (and then the Soviet people) learned about Stalin being the greatest mass murderer in the history of mankind was in 1956, when Khrushchev gave his famous "secret speech." Yet the times were not ripe then for the destruction of Stalinism. The Stalin myth survived the "secret speech"! I would also add, bitterly and cynically, that even now there are millions of people in Russia who would be happy to have the deranged mass murderer back as the national hero.
Failure: The author also delivers on the promise of the second part of the subtitle - Gorbachev's failure. The reader will learn the captivating story of how Gorbachev attempted to hold the Soviet Union together in the late fall of 1990. And how the tragic events in January of 1991 (massacre of Lithuanian civilians by Soviet military force) eventually contributed to Gorbachev's fall.
Maybe the author is being coy when he writes about an article of his "this one reveals the ungenerous limits of my own imagination." The phrase is quite endearing and it exemplifies how light and readable the author's style is. To sum up (finally!), this a great book: informative, deep, serious yet captivating. I have already ordered two other books by Mr. Kaiser.
Four-and-a-half stars.
My previous reviews of books on Soviet leaders:
The Struggle for Russia - by Boris Yeltsin
Gorbachev: Heretic in the Kremlin - by Dusko Doder and Louise Branson
The Andropov File - by Martin Ebon
Against the Grain - An Autobiography - by Boris Yeltsin
Lenin to Gorbachev: Three generations of Soviet Communists
Brezhnev, Soviet Politician - by Murphy
Khrushchev - by Roy Medvedev
Gorbachev and His Revolution - by Mark Galeotti
Andropov - by Zhores Medvedev
Robert G. Kaiser's Why Gorbachev Happened. His Triumphs & His Failure is the best of the 10 books about Soviet and Russian leaders in the second half of the 20th century that I have recently read and reviewed here on Goodreads (the list is included after the rating). The main reason for my enthusiastic recommendation is that while the book should be clear and understandable to people who have never had close contact with the Soviet ideology it is still deep enough to offer stunning insights and teach a lot of new things to people like this reviewer, who were born, raised, and spent about half of their lives in the shadow of the Soviet ideology.
For several days I have been struggling with the rating. I really wanted to give this outstanding book five stars. But I can't. I reserve the maximum rating only for perhaps one in 20 books, ones that are virtually perfect in every possible sense, in other words, masterpieces. And I see one clear flaw of Mr. Kaiser's book - the slightly misleading main title. I don't really think the author explains why Gorbachev happened. He explains how he happened, but not why. In fact, I don't think it is possible to answer the "why" question. Mikhail Gorbachev happened to be - through the most powerful force of the universe, that is randomness - the right person at the right time. Most other potential leaders would not achieve that much at that time of the Soviet empire, yet had he come at a different time of Soviet history he would have not achieved much.
I certainly lack the skills to produce a full-blown review of this wonderful book so in the following paragraphs I will just point out - in an itemized form - few things that made the strongest impression on me.
Liberation of Eastern Europe: Since I am Polish by birth the liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet influence in the late 1980s was probably the most important political event I have ever witnessed. I am happy to report that the author seems to validate my point of view that the liberation was mainly due to Mr. Gorbachev's actions:
"Gorbachev did cause the revolution in Eastern Europe - with a series of practical and symbolic steps, culminating in that telephone call, which informed the East Europeans that he had abandoned the old rule book that had required them to submit to Moscow's discipline."Mythology of the Soviet society: The author clearly and succinctly summarizes the mythology of the Soviet system. The three most important myths, freely accepted by virtually all Soviet people. were: (1) "the myth of Lenin (transformed into a deity after his death)", (2) the myth of the October Revolution of 1917 believed to be "a massive popular uprising by workers and peasants", and (3) the myth of the Great Patriotic War as "the lonely triumph of Russia over Nazi Germany." While deification of Lenin might conceivably be understood in a society where religion was not officially practiced, the other two myths are patently based on falsehoods.
Truth about Stalin: The author makes an argument that Gorbachev's persistence and successes in denouncing Stalinism were one of the main reasons of the fall of the Soviet Union. I would add here that the first time the world (and then the Soviet people) learned about Stalin being the greatest mass murderer in the history of mankind was in 1956, when Khrushchev gave his famous "secret speech." Yet the times were not ripe then for the destruction of Stalinism. The Stalin myth survived the "secret speech"! I would also add, bitterly and cynically, that even now there are millions of people in Russia who would be happy to have the deranged mass murderer back as the national hero.
Failure: The author also delivers on the promise of the second part of the subtitle - Gorbachev's failure. The reader will learn the captivating story of how Gorbachev attempted to hold the Soviet Union together in the late fall of 1990. And how the tragic events in January of 1991 (massacre of Lithuanian civilians by Soviet military force) eventually contributed to Gorbachev's fall.
Maybe the author is being coy when he writes about an article of his "this one reveals the ungenerous limits of my own imagination." The phrase is quite endearing and it exemplifies how light and readable the author's style is. To sum up (finally!), this a great book: informative, deep, serious yet captivating. I have already ordered two other books by Mr. Kaiser.
Four-and-a-half stars.
My previous reviews of books on Soviet leaders:
The Struggle for Russia - by Boris Yeltsin
Gorbachev: Heretic in the Kremlin - by Dusko Doder and Louise Branson
The Andropov File - by Martin Ebon
Against the Grain - An Autobiography - by Boris Yeltsin
Lenin to Gorbachev: Three generations of Soviet Communists
Brezhnev, Soviet Politician - by Murphy
Khrushchev - by Roy Medvedev
Gorbachev and His Revolution - by Mark Galeotti
Andropov - by Zhores Medvedev
September 14, 2019
Robert Kaiser did a great job making me feel this particular period of Soviet history, something I've been very interested in.
May 3, 2015
Context is given to the powers at play at the end of the Soviet Union, with Mikhail Sergeyevich as a necessary catalyst.
Gorbachev is characterized as a visionary on one hand and as a party man on the other, parabolically pandering to the reformers for a time, then attempting to reassure the hard line communists who grew up in the Stalinist system. (See Tarkin Doctrine http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tarkin...). While Gorbachev clearly recognized the failure of the command economy and the centralized power structure, and instituted perestroika and democratization in an attempt to rehabilitate the Soviet Union, the same man ordered military invasions of newly independent republics opting out of the broken system. Such choices contextualize the early (in hindsight, fleeting) popularity of Yeltsin, a nationalist, a person who was in touch with average citizens, and who was consistent in his policies. With Yeltsin, a clear alternative to Gorbachev, the Unionist and communist, this account points to the changes initiated by Gorbachev as the reasons for his undoing.
Gorbachev is characterized as a visionary on one hand and as a party man on the other, parabolically pandering to the reformers for a time, then attempting to reassure the hard line communists who grew up in the Stalinist system. (See Tarkin Doctrine http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tarkin...). While Gorbachev clearly recognized the failure of the command economy and the centralized power structure, and instituted perestroika and democratization in an attempt to rehabilitate the Soviet Union, the same man ordered military invasions of newly independent republics opting out of the broken system. Such choices contextualize the early (in hindsight, fleeting) popularity of Yeltsin, a nationalist, a person who was in touch with average citizens, and who was consistent in his policies. With Yeltsin, a clear alternative to Gorbachev, the Unionist and communist, this account points to the changes initiated by Gorbachev as the reasons for his undoing.
May 29, 2013
This was actually a tedious book, boring to those who don't eat up history like I do. The author is a journalist who lived in Russia during critical periods of Gorbachev's life and gleaned information from contacts there and news sources in America and Russia as well as just about everything Gorbachev said that was published. Reported on most speeches he gave, very thorough on substance of information. Detailed information from his birth to January 1991--stopped to publish book. Gorbachev was arrested in August and his leadership ended. It did what a good biography should do: examine the character, thinking process, personality and personal appeal and temperament of the person. Did answer the question of how and why he came to power and what his failures were.
May 22, 2016
Poor scholarship. I'm using it for research on the Nina Andreeva Affair, a quite delicate and disputed topic in academia, and he qualifies everything he says about it afterwards with, "My sources were not the key participants...Their information was incomplete, and could have been wrong in some details" (206). If this is the case, don't include this content in your book and contribute to misinformation.
August 23, 2009
I got half way throuhgh the book. Though it was very interesting, I lost enthusasim for it half way through.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews