“A richly instructive exercise in the craft of Kremlinology . . . . Fascinating.” ―Serge Schmemann, New York Times Book Review In March 1985, without the usual long delay and speculation, Mikhail Gorbachev, at fifty-four years of age, became the youngest Soviet leader since Stalin. Gorbachev belongs to a new generation of Communist leaders, a generation that did not experience the suffering and fear that Gorbachev’s predecessors did who came to power under Stalin. He is a product of the system, not one of its creators. Within a year his vigorous style had made him a well-known political figure throughout the world. In this book, Zhores A. Medvedev, author of an acclaimed biography of Yuri Andropov and many other books on Soviet history, looks at the inner workings of Soviet leadership and at Gorbachev the man and his rise to power. For the paperback edition, Mr. Medvedev has provided a new chapter on recent events, including the Chernobyl disaster: its long-range effects and what is revealed about Gorbachev’s leadership and Soviet decision making.

Gorbachev

Biographies & Memoirs

Medvedev, Zhores

Leaders & Notable People

W.W.Norton&Company

"A damning history of the Chernobyl affair, from its origins in the plant's primitive design and careless management to the economic and political crisis the accident precipitated." ? Clenn Garelik, New York Times Book Review On the morning of April 26, 1986, a Soviet nuclear plant at Chernobyl (near Kiev) exploded, pouring radioactivity into the environment and setting off the worst disaster in the history of nuclear energy. Now a former Soviet scientist gives a comprehensive account of the catastrophe.

The Legacy of Chernobyl

Self-Help

Nuclear Disaster in the Urals

Late in 1957 a huge explosion occurred in the disposal section of the Soviet atomic weapons industry located in the Southern Urals where atomic wastes had been stored for over ten years. The result was devastating. The primary radioactive contamination covered between 800 and 1200 square miles, an area almost as large as Rhode Island. People died--whole villages had to be evacuated and bulldozed. All that remained, both plant and animal life, received such a massive dose of radiation that its effects will probably be felt for as long as a century.
The story of the explosion and contamination was and still is suppressed in the Soviet Union and, the author contends, by the CIA and other Western intelligence organizations fearful of public resistance to nuclear power plants. Now, after an intensive study of Soviet scientific articles (written to disguise the fact that they were about the Ural explosion) and after many interviews and reports from friends in the scientific community as well as from witnesses, the author has pieced together the story of what actually happened. He analyzes the extent and consequences of the contamination and draws forbidding conclusions about the possibility of similar disasters in the rest of the world.

History

Military

Soviet Science

Russia

A question of madness

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

KNOPF

A compelling new biography of the Soviet leader draws on research into previously unavailable archives, recently revealed evidence, and personal experiences during and after the Stalin regime to refute commonly held myths, inaccuracies, and misconceptions about Stalin's life, political career, death, and influence. 25,000 first printing.

The Unknown Stalin

Press, The Overlook

Medvedev, Roy.

Historical

Overlook Books

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Books by Medvedev, Zhores