New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., Date: 1983. Copyright © 1983 . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo or 8° (Medium Octavo): 7¾" x 9¾" tall. Gordon Kansas (Jacket Illustration). 227 pp. Solidly bound copy and dj with moderate external wear, crisp pages and clean text. Synopsis: In November 1982, after prolonged illness, Leonid Brezhnev died. To the surprise of many Western observers, Yuri Andropov emerged as his successor. Much of his past is shrouded in mystery, but that past includes ten years of Party supervision of socialist states as well as fifteen years as head of the most feared intelligence and security network in the world, the KGB. Zhores Medvedev, a leading figure in the dissident movement was one of the first to see Andropov as the likely successor. Here he describes and analyses the succession struggle, Andropov's career and rise to power, his role in the reforming and strengthening of the KGB and the new leaders first few months in office. It is a courageous and revealing book which draws on a vast network of unofficial sources. 1983. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 0393017915 9780393017915 [US]