Word: sakharovs
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Originally envisioned as part of the earlier volume (sections of chapter one appeared last May in Time), Moscow and Beyond details Sakharov's struggles against the Soviet regime after Mikhail Gorbachev released the physicist and his wife in late December, 1986. The book opens with their return to Moscow amid a frenzy of interviews with journalists and meetings with foreign diplomats...
...first chapter, Sakharov, who died a few months after the book's completion, describes his initial misgivings about Gorbachev and glasnost. "Glasnost, thank goodness, is continually breaking new ground...[But]...the gap between word and deed has been growing," Sakharov writes. "Gorbachev and his close associates themselves may still not have completely thrown off the prejudices and dogmas of the system they inherited...
...remainder of the book, Sakharov recounts his opposition to the inertia demonstrated by the Soviet government in its reform efforts, as well as his activities abroad on behalf of democracy and his theory of rapproachment between socialism and capitalism. The description of a visit to earthquake-devastated Armenia and Azerbaijan reveals Sakharov's compassion and understanding of his country's problems...
...especially valuable portion of this book is Sakharov's narrative of the selection process for the first Congress of Peoples' Deputies and its initial meeting in June 1989. During that gathering Sakharov proposed a new version of the Soviet constitution that may be one of his most lasting gifts to civil rights in his homeland...
...book ends with a short epilogue in which Sakharov considers the future of the Soviet Union. He warns, "Only a radicalization of perestroika can over-come the crisis without a disasterous move into reverse...