ie They are NOT coming from overseas !!
PERESTROIKA
New Thinking for Our Country and the World
- By Mikhail Gorbachev -
ISBN: 0060390859
Publisher: "A Cornelia and Michael Bessie Book"/ Harper & Row, New York, USA
Published: 1987
Binding: HARDcover with Dustjacket 255 pages
Condition: UNread & displayed condition! HERE in MELBOURNE! A retired display
copy as illustrated!
Edition: STATED FIRST EDITION: 1st printing 1987 Complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
TIGHT, SCARCE HARDCOVER WITH DUSTJACKET ~ IN MELBOURNE ...
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Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!
Remains UNread - it was the display copy instore. It is Tight - neat, no inscriptions or marks within. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!! A nicely preserved copy - superb!
No discernible shelf wear, the interior is tight and spotlessly clean with pages. THIS copy is the STATED FIRST EDITION: FIRST printing from 1987 complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - the US publishing by "A Cornelia and Michael Bessie Book"/ Harper & Row, New York.
SCARCE title - this is an UNread copy!!
In original navy blue cloth embossed HARDcover binding - striking gold author signature in gold to front panel, in publisher's dustjacket - bright clean and complete which are in excellent as new condition.
(Stored with 2021!)
Measures approx. 9¾ x 6¾ inches or 25 x 17cms
SYNOPSIS ....
Perestroika, which means restructuring, is Mikhail Gorbachev's own account of the revolution he is presently implementing in the U.S.S.R. Seventy years after the October Revolution, it constitutes real changes in attitudes, in ideas and in practice that entail a radical alteration of both domestic and foreign policy. Perestroika is the next stage in socialist history, when greater responsibility is delegated to the people, and initiative, openness and a spirit of emulation are strongly encouraged through a real sense of personal involvement. It is an unprecedented blueprint for change that can only have profound implications for the world.
A serious crisis in the environment assumed the proportions of a global menace. This was pinpointed by the U.N. Commission's report, Our Common Future. The global challenge involved in this crisis was aggravated by the economic crisis of monetarism and debt. Gorbachev addressed the same themes in a powerful message to the U.N. The power of separate nation states was no longer sufficient to meet the world-wide threat.
About the Author
Mikhail Gorbachev - Born into a peasant family in the Stavropol region of southern Russia, Gorbachev witnessed the destruction of parts of his homeland by Germans in World War II. In 1952, he entered Moscow University, where he studied law and joined the Communist party. After graduating, he returned to Stavropol to work as an agricultural specialist. At the same time, he began to rise steadily in the Communist hierarchy, becoming party leader of the Stavropol region in 1970, a member of the Central Committee in 1971, a full member of the Central Communist party committee, the Politburo, in 1980, and in 1982, the right-hand man of Soviet leader and Communist party secretary Yuri Andropiv. In 1985, Gorbachev became Soviet leader and general secretary of the Communist party. His coming to power marked a historic moment in the history of the Soviet Union. No other Soviet leader had displayed the charisma, charm, sophistication, and confident personality that is Gorbachev's. Since coming to power, Gorbachev, through his programs of "glasnost" and "perestroika", has led the reorganization of the Soviet Union's political and economic structure has allowed greater freedom and openness in the Soviet society. As part of the Soviet Union's political restructuring, Gorbachev assumed the new position of president in 1989. In 1990, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in foreign affairs - withdrawing Soviet forces from Afganistan, permitting political reforms in Eastern Europe, and easing tensions with the United States. In 1991, after a failed coup against him, he abolished the Communist party and resigned as its head. He then freed the Baltic states, after which he set up a power-sharing agreement with the remaining republics. Due in part to his efforts, the cold war was effectively ended and prospects for peace between the world's superpowers seemed greater than any time during the past 50 years.
Very Interesting read!
Reviews
This is a very important book for Soviet and United States history. .... Here we have the new, young leader of the USSR speaking not only to Russians but Americans giving his view of both the status of his country and the relationship with its enemy. Now in late 2011 he is still alive and calling for Putin to be satisfied with his 3 terms in office and step down.
He is criticized for having the Soviet Union fall apart on his watch, but any examination of the building nationalism in the 15 countries so unnaturally forced together 70 years earlier indicates it was probably bound to happen anyhow. Frankly I admire Gorbachev.
Oh, to travel back to 1987 .... when the cold war of the USSR and the USA was just beginning to cease, back to when superpowers were beginning to wonder how much was too much, when nuclear arms, not fully fuelled commercial airliners, were considered dangerous. Do you remember a time when you thought the Berlin Wall was a permanent fixture and the Iron Curtin would be closed forever? Mikhail Gorbachev brings it all to the forefront in his book, Perestroika. He wishes to explain what perestroika means not only literally but figuratively and here he succeeds. The reader is left with a clearer understanding of what was hoped and proposed. Gorbachev believed that just the right amount of democracy added to socialism would clear up the problems the USSR was experiencing at the time. In hindsight, the reader is left to wonder if the introduction of democracy opened the doors to more than Gorbachev had planned. If anything, reading this book over twenty years after it was written only urges me to gain a better knowledge of what transpired afterwards. Are Gorbachev’s recollections completely accurate? How and why did the USSR once again become Russia? The impossible became reality and I wasn’t even paying attention. Questions abound and I will certainly open my mental iron curtain to more books on the subject.
Would I recommend it? ……… At this point it’s an historical book and unless you ever had the slightest interest in Perestroika, Glasnost or détente, Reagan, Gorbachev or Thatcher, I would only recommend it to those who want a quick though one-sided refresher course.
Historically, this is a very important book .... at least for anyone who wants to understand about a significant stage in the Cold War. And, anyone who doesn't think the Cold War was not a great threat to the lives of all, doesn't understand the Cold War. (It's not over, by the way, just not in one of its worst stages.)
It is split into two parts. The first is about restructuring the government and economy of USSR. The second is about foreign relations between USSR and the rest of the world, and technical doesn't have much to do with Perestroika (Restructuring) itself.
The perestroika portion is tough to read, as it is laced with politically correct (by Soviet standards) propaganda, in particular maintaining the cult of Lenin. There are still important concepts to be found here. One is the decentralization of control and shifting it to lower levels, which is very much part of Marxist-Leninist ideology, just not well carried out in USSR. (Except, perhaps, in Siberia, because it is a long way from Moscow; Canadian Farley Mowat had some interesting observations in his book on Siberia.) The concept that good accounting, and that profit produces economic incentive and efficiency, does not imply capitalism (profits go to capital investors, as opposed to labor investors), is quite important.
The foreign relations part is less spoiled by propaganda, but of course plays down USSR's contribution to the Cold War, but this is certainly much less than what I grew up with in USA from my government. In my experience, Gorbachev's take on the matter is better than most US sources, and I write with at least some expertise, as a former Star Warrior (system engineer) during the time this book was written.
This is one of those books that can be rated from quite low to quite high. Not a book to read for pleasure. As an important book, not just about a minor detail in history, but of some of the most important events of my lifetime, it is a 5. I find 4 is the correct balance.
FIVE STARS! .... Remarkably insightful to read this, now that we know the socio-political and military events that followed this book. Also one of the most diplomatic and pragmatic writings by any leader I've read so far.
A GREAT READ! .... This was purely an academic read and a great follow-up to the previous book on Germany. As a "child of the West", I tried to keep an open mind concerning the content of the book. The author made many great points, but I still had to concede to my bias that anything can look good on paper. History has already spoken on the fate of the socialist experiment and the U.S.S.R.; however, I had to wonder, if given more time or an earlier start, would Gorbachev's re-structuring and openness have worked?! Food for thought! Great read nonetheless.
Open minded about Socialism and Capitalist .. While practicing law in Lakeland Florida and raising our family I taught and read with a Senior class at Santa Fe Catholic High School. This was just before the end of the Soviet Union. It was an extremely exciting and prophetic epiphany.
Seminal piece for the time; .... this is a great insight into contemporary Soviet Union life and politics.
Excellent reading, ... especially if one is versed in Russian (Soviet) politics - that way, you can differentiate between political rhetoric, outright hedging (not necessarily lying, per se) and Gorbachev's own heartfelt voice. Outstanding.
Gorbachev clearly writes, and explains, his restructuring ... The reasons and the goals. I have to assume that he is very insightful about why the restructuring (perestroika) is required. In fact, he is startlingly honest about the Russian problems, "wake up a nation of many millions which have been lulled to sleep for decades... promote initiative when many people have to look up the meaning of this word in the dictionary." (p. 71) How to get the Russian people moving after severe centralization, punishment for thinking, unfathomable careless production, old/dilapidated machinery and processes. Gorbachev outlines the problems that go on and on. Nevertheless, he is just as clear that socialism will not be abandoned; the revolution will prevail.
He makes a case that the soviets always wanted peace, never an arms race. The West pushed them.
He speaks about the former soviet states as completely free, and happy to be under USSR domination... esp, in socialism.
He makes the case that every former colonial-dominated country deeply looks to Russia for help to get to socialism.
This is an important book to read. It was 25 years ago, but surely explains that mindset of Russia still today. In Russia, they made many errors and need to reinstate socialism with private ownership and work pride. But, internationally, they were 'set on' by the west simply because they were trying a new social order. It is an unbelievable diatribe, but important to understand IF Russians really believe it!
Marvellous Reading!
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