Mikhail Gorbachev: The Life and Legacy of the Soviet Union’s Last Leader
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by KC Wayman
()
About this audiobook
After going through three elderly leaders in three years, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen as the new General Secretary of the Soviet Union at the relatively youg age of 54 in March 1985. Gorbachev hoped to build the Soviet economy to relieve the persistent shortages of consumer goods it faced, which were caused by enormous military spending of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev tried to introduce some economic reforms, but they were blocked by communist hardliners. Gorbachev then came to the belief that the Soviet economy could not improved without political reform as well.
In comparison with other Soviet leaders, Gorbachev was leader of the USSR for a relatively short period, but the changes that took place under his leadership were monumental, including some that were intended and others that were unforeseen. Gorbachev oversaw the end of the Cold War and the peaceful transition away from communism in Central and Eastern Europe, and he ended the war in Afghanistan and many other proxy conflicts in the developing world. Gorbachev improved relations with the West and developed enough trust with President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush to decommission thousands of nuclear weapons. He also liberalized the political environment within the Soviet Union itself, increased accountability, and brought in a certain degree of democracy.
Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1990, but his regime also left a legacy of turbulence and destruction in its wake. As a result of his policies, many Soviet people rose up against the status quo, demanding national self-determination and reviving old grievances. Gorbachev could not prevent the USSR from disbanding at the end of 1991, leaving much of the country’s economy in ruins and nationalist and ethnic conflicts that are still unresolved today.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fermi Paradox: The History and Legacy of the Famous Debate over the Existence of Aliens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Battle of Hamburger Hill: The History and Legacy of One of the Vietnam War's Most Controversial Battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Mikhail Gorbachev
Related audiobooks
The Soviet Union: The History and Legacy of the USSR from World War I to the End of the Cold War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Soviet Sixties Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soviet Union during the Brezhnev Era: The History of the USSR Under Leonid Brezhnev Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The History of the USSR Under Mikhail Gorbachev Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soviet Union Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Moscow, December 25,1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Putin's Wars and NATO's Flaws: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Franklin D. Roosevelt and the American Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gorbachev: His Life and Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shortest History of the Soviet Union Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontenegro in the Late Middle Ages: The History of the Different States and Dynasties that Controlled the Area Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Start of World War I: The History of the Events at the Beginning of the Great War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leon Trotsky Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fall of the Russian Empire: The Russian Revolution and Civil War, Lenin the Bolsheviks, and Stalin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Best Hope: A History of American Realism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBenito Mussolini: Italian Prime Minister and Fascist Dictator Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Russian History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Russian Riddle:: Stalin's Deadly Date with Destiny Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Have Something to Tell You: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Infidel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Mikhail Gorbachev
0 ratings0 reviews