The former, long-time Moscow bureau chief for the "Washington Post" details the Kremlin intrigues, infights, and maneuvers of the early 1980s that culminated in the selection of Gorbachev as Communist Party general secretary. "Unique reporting on the Soviet leadership.Dusko Doder provides penetrating insights into the men at the top and how they got there."

• William Hyland, Editor, Foreign Affairs, and Deputy National Security Advisor "Kremlin politics by a journalist with extraordinary contacts and the skill to make the most of them."
• Marshall Shulman, former Director of the Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union, Columbia University