Abstract

The Taubmans' colorful, lively, and intelligent book recounts their intense impressions of the Gorbachev “revolution” as it unfolded during the first six months of 1988. The period culminated in the 19th Party Conference in June, marking the third year of the political and cultural storm set loose by the General Secretary in 1985. At the heart of the storm, as the Taubmans see it, is Gorbachev's program of radical reconstruction, aiming at a Western-style liberal democracy. Paradoxically, they note, such a plan for political participation from below must be put into effect from above; adherents to democracy need autocracy, while proponents of autocracy use the new freedom to appeal to an undemocratic and conservative public sentiment.