The Gorbachev Phenomenon: A History of Perestroika - Hardcover

Not a book about Gorbachev as such, but a history of perestroika, this makes extensive use of the Soviet Press to analyze the phenomenon within the framework of the interaction between party, society and ideology. It is argued that only in foreign policy has any coherence been achieved. Since 1917, there have been three moving forces in the Soviet Union: the Communist Party, ideology, and the society itself. Taking place in the USSR today is a mortal struggle between a ruling power which feels threatened but will make no essential concessions and a society barricaded behind passive resistance. This study aims to describe the features of the underground combat, the result of which we have yet to see.