The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Political Leaders From Lenin to Gorbachev

(Paperback)

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A former general in the Soviet Army's propaganda department, Director of the Institute for Military History, and Defence Adviser to President Yeltsin from 1991 to his death from cancer in December 1995, Dmitri Volkogonov had unrivalled access to Soviet military archives, Communist Party documents and secret presidential files. Basing this book on these inside sources, he reveals the truth behind the activities of the world's most secretive political leaders. He throws new light on: Lenin's paranoia about foreigners in Russia; his creation of a privileged system for top Party members; Stalin's repression of the nationalities and his singular conduct of foreign policy; the origins and conduct of the Korean War; Khrushchev's relationship with the odious secret service chief Beria; Brezhnev's vanity and stupidity; the Afghan War; Poland and Solidarity; Soviet bureaucracy; and Gorbachev's Leninism and role in history.

Author Bio

Dmitri Volkogonov was a Colonel-General in the Soviet Army's propaganda department until his views came to be regarded as 'un-Soviet'. The biographer of Stalin, Lenin and Trotsky, he became Defence Adviser to President Yeltsin. He died in December 1995, shortly after completing this book. Harold Shukman, who also translated Volkogonov's Stalin and Lenin, is a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.