I read Christian Schmidt-Hauer's Gorbachev: Path to Power. Obviously about Gorbachev this book is written as a biography (and is one) about him in the personal and political sense. It was written to show the west that still mostly doesn't know who he was and what he did to open communication between the USSR and the United States. Gorbachev has had numerous biographies written about him because of his impact on reform in the USSR and eventually the collapse of it and his efforts worldwide. But who is Gorbachev? Where did he come from? How did he come into power"

Gorbachev; Leader of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) from 1985 to 1991. He was the last bit of that country and was the key figure in the liberalization and subsequent disintegration of Soviet Communism. He is mostly known for his policies aimed at relaxing tensions with the West and particularly...