Mikhail Gorbachev: A Leader for Soviet Change

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-- In this detailed biography, which relies heavily on quotations from Gorbachev's speeches and writings, the reconciliation of greater openness with the Communist ideology is explained with admirable clarity. Beginning with the little that is known about Gorbachev's early years, the narrative moves through his career to his rise to power as the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The delicate dance that Gorbachev, as an initiator of change, must perform to satisfy both the older, more hard line party members as well as his own perception that only a loosening of restraints will permit the economic growth that is so necessary for progress is well delineated. His role in international relations receives attention, as do his less-popular actions, such as suppressing information about the Chernobyl disaster. The narrative is complete and reportorial, but is so dry that pleasure reading is out of the question. The insertion of relatively long passages from Gorbachev's speeches add immediacy, but are also dull. Students looking for report material on this controversial figure could hardly find a better source. It is a shame that a little more life could not have been added to a biography of a man who seems possessed of considerable verve and sparkle. Janet Caulkins' Picture Life of Mikhail Gorbachev (Watts, 1985) is for a younger audience and contains relatively little information when compared to this title, making Oleksy's book the title of choice for biographical material in the upper elementary and middle school grades. The black-and-white photographs are undistinguished. --Ann Welton, University Child Development School, Seattle