This book reveals little not found in Christian Schmidt-Hauer's Gorbachev ( LJ 9/1/86) and Mark Frankland's The Sixth Continent ( LJ 11/15/87). Treatment of Gorbachev's early years relies on hearsay, his reminiscences, and those of fellow student Zdenek Mlynar. The period between 1956 and accession to the Politburo in 1980 is thinly sketched, and circumstances linking Gorbachev's rise with politicians Suslov, Kulakov, and Andropov are frustratingly vague. Recent sources help depict a sharper portrait of an outstanding orator and energetic leader. The chapter on the 1987 Washington summit is the best. Readers will find none of the promised intimacy, but may enjoy the match of the authors' style with Gorbachev's celebrity. Recommended for public libraries. BOMC selection. Zachary T. Irwin, Behrend Coll., Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie.
