Memoirs

There may be no more enigmatic public figure than Mikhail Gorbachev. This leader who guided the Soviet Union out of the quagmire of socialism and paved the way for the liberation of Eastern Europe is forgotten, even reviled, in his own land. Gorbachev's massive autobiography hints at why he has been relegated to the dustbin of history by the very people he helped set free. Capable of asking the big questions, by nature and by training he was only able to attend to the small details. Looking back on his career as a Communist bureaucrat, he wonders, "How was it that any initiative which patently served the interests of society was immediately viewed with suspicion and even overt hostility? Why was our system so unresponsive to renewal and innovation? Other [questions] crossed my mind. But I was much too busy to give them serious consideration."