Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-428) and index.
Contents:
Cold War. The workers' state ; A message of hope ; Solidarity ; The electrician ; Civil war ; The bleeding wound ; The power of the powerless ; Able archer ; America's leading dove ; A pyrrhic victory -- The thaw. The new tsar ; The sword and shield ; Lenin's apostle ; Silent memories ; "We cannot win" ; "Let them hate" ; Chernobyl : nuclear disaster ; Ethnic cleansing ; Humbled in Red Square ; The gang of four ; Gorbachev's Vietnam ; Old men's tales ; Endgame in Poland ; President Bush takes charge ; Triumph in Manhattan -- Revolution. The war of words ; Havel in jail ; The round table ; Shoot to kill ; The friendship bridge ; The curtain falls ; The cautious American ; The loyal opposition ; The dictator pays his debts ; A stolen election ; Expulsion of the Turks ; The landslide ; Funeral in Budapest ; A presidential tour ; Trail of the Trabants ; A government of dissidents ; Refugees ; The birthday party ; People power ; The wall comes tumbling down ; The coup ; The Velvet Revolution ; The moment of weakness.
Summary:
Documents the collapse of the Soviet Union's European empire (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslvakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) and the transition of each to independent states, drawing on interviews and newly uncovered archival material to offer insight into 1989's rapid changes and the USSR's minimal resistance.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.