In 1988, no one expected the East Bloc to
disintegrate within a year. In Russian historian Constantine Pleshakov’s
cheeky, sharply worded account of the last days of the Evil Empire, none of the
key players—not Reagan, Bush or John Paul II—had any idea where events would
lead. Pleshakov’s insight is that the runaway pace of history was triggered by
the quagmire in Afghanistan
that crippled the Soviet behemoth and the rise of Solidarity in Poland, which
set an example for dissidence throughout the East Bloc. Gorbachev may have
symbolized change, but Pleshakov defines him as a mediocre, disingenuous,
muddle-headed leader who accidentally caused the collapse of the Communist
system he hoped to save.
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