Khrushchev by Рой Медведев
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"[Khrushchev's] tireless activity confirmed that it was possible to change Soviet society from the top, given support from below."

I distinctly remember one morning in October 1964: my mother woke me up when it was time to go to school - I was a high-school freshman - yet instead of saying "Time to wake up!" she said "There is no Khrushchev any more..." During breakfast we listened to the radio: the speaker announced that Nikita Khrushchev was removed from all his posts and Leonid Brezhnev assumed the position of the First Secretary of the Soviet communist party - the supreme authority in the Soviet Union. Many readers these days will not know what Soviet Union was - one of the only two superpowers of that time, whose military might was equal to that of the United States, and whose thermonuclear weapons could annihilate all life on Earth. Any change in Soviet leadership was a momentous event that could affect every person in any country.

Roy Medvedev's Khrushchev (1982) is a great biography of the man who was the leader of Soviet Union for 11 years (1953 - 1964). The author, a famous Russian historian and political writer, is the twin brother of Zhores Medvedev whose Andropov I reviewed here two months ago. I like this biography much more: it is more detailed and rich in synthetic depth, probably because of the eighteen-year break between Khrushchev's disappearance from public life and this book's publication: the passage of time created a historical perspective.

The biography tracks Khrushchev's life from his hard-working youth in fields and mines, through service and political work in the Red Army, a string of promotions in the party structure crowned by becoming a candidate member of the Politburo in 1938. The author confirms Khrushchev's participation in the terror of Stalin's years - in those years party bosses simply had to order torture and murder of thousands of people, otherwise they were tortured and murdered themselves on other party bosses' orders - but does not provide any details.

During World War II about 25 million Soviet people died: several million because of the utter stupidity of the Supreme Leader (Stalin) who believed in his own infallibility and omnipotence, and further several million died with the Stalin's sacred name on their lips. Krushchev distinguished himself during his military service for his Fatherland and his Supreme Leader. While the events surrounding Stalin's death in 1953 are well known the author offers a detailed account of the power struggle that ensued. Khrushchev emerges victorious, assumes the top position in the party, and in February of 1956 gives the famous "Secret Speech" where he denounces Stalin for the long decades of his reign of terror: for massive repressions, tortures, and murders. In consequence several millions of prisoners have been liberated and mass rehabilitations of murdered or imprisoned people took place.

The author then presents a detailed - and totally captivating - account of Khrushchev's remaining years in power, from 1956 to 1964: the highpoints are the crises in Poland, Hungary, and Suez Canal, Khrushchev's visit to the United States in 1959, the Berlin crisis of 1961, the Cuban crisis of 1962, and the growing tensions between Soviet Union and China. I am planning to soon read and review books on these three last topics so I am not discussing them here.

There are fascinating passages in the text, for example, the account of Khrushchev's visit to Washington D.C, New York, Hollywood, and Iowa. The reader will certainly enjoy the few pages dedicated to Khrushchev's reactions to abstract art.

The discontent rising in the Soviet society in 1963-1964, the scarcity of goods, stagnant incomes, and the average party members' dissatisfaction with Khrushchev's methods and lack of results of his leadership created an environment where other members of the Soviet leadership decided to take matters in their hands and relieved Khrushchev of all his duties on that fateful day in October 1964.

Roy Medvedev's book is a fascinating political biography: a very highly recommended work.

Four-and-a-quarter stars.

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