Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire

New
Hardcover
2009
$20.53

For more than 40 years after the Second World War the Iron Curtain divided Europe physically, with 300 km of walls and barbed wire fences; ideologically, between communism and capitalism; psychologically, between people imprisoned under totalitarian dictatorships and their neighbours enjoying democratic freedoms; and militarily, by two mighty, distrustful power blocs, still fighting the cold war. East-West rivalry and a cruelly divided continent seemed to be unalterable facts of life. Few statesmen, diplomats, soldiers or thinkers imagined these certainties would change in their lifetimes. At the start of 1989, ten European nations were still Soviet vassal states. By the end of the year, one after another, they had thrown off communism, declared national independence, and embarked on the road to democracy. One of history's most brutal empires was on its knees. Poets who had been languishing in jails became vice presidents. When the Berlin Wall fell on a chilly November night it seemed as though the open wounds of the cruel twentieth century would at last begin to heal. The Year of Revolutions appeared as a beacon of hope for oppressed people elsewhere who dared to dream that they too could free themselves. In a dizzying few months of almost entirely peaceful revolutions the people's will triumphed over tyranny. An entire way of life was swept away along with a half dozen incompetent, corrupt and at times vicious dictatorships. It happened with little violence, apart from a few days in Romania. Now, twenty years on, Victor Sebestyen reassesses this decisive moment in modern history.

Synopsis

For more than 40 years after the Second World War the Iron Curtain divided Europe physically, with 300 km of walls and barbed wire fences; ideologically, between communism and capitalism; psychologically, between people imprisoned under totalitarian dictatorships and their neighbours enjoying democratic freedoms; and militarily, by two mighty, distrustful power blocs, still fighting the cold war. East-West rivalry and a cruelly divided continent seemed to be unalterable facts of life. Few statesmen, diplomats, soldiers or thinkers imagined these certainties would change in their lifetimes. At the start of 1989, ten European nations were still Soviet vassal states. By the end of the year, one after another, they had thrown off communism, declared national independence, and embarked on the road to democracy. One of history's most brutal empires was on its knees. Poets who had been languishing in jails became vice presidents. When the Berlin Wall fell on a chilly November night it seemed as though the open wounds of the cruel twentieth century would at last begin to heal. The Year of Revolutions appeared as a beacon of hope for oppressed people elsewhere who dared to dream that they too could free themselves. In a dizzying few months of almost entirely peaceful revolutions the people's will triumphed over tyranny. An entire way of life was swept away along with a half dozen incompetent, corrupt and at times vicious dictatorships. It happened with little violence, apart from a few days in Romania. Now, twenty years on, Victor Sebestyen reassesses this decisive moment in modern history.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 464
Publisher: W&N
Published: 30 Jul 2009
ISBN 10: 029785223X
ISBN 13: 9780297852230
Book Overview: Published to coincide with 20th anniversary of the downfall of the Soviet empire Author has strong connections with many of the former Soviet satellites, not least Hungary where he was born Simon Sebag-Montefiore [STALIN] wrote on reading Sebestyen's TWELVE DAYS: 'On the anniversary of 1956, wielding a vast array of totally new archives and totally new eye-witness testimony, Victor Sebestyen has written a magisterial but also totally gripping fresh account of the noble, violent and doomed Hungarian revolution, a tale of murder and battle on the streets of Budapest and the dungeons of the KGB, high-level intrigue from the white house to the Kremlin, and above all, a story of courage and decency amongst ordinary Hungarians: the result is a tour de force.'

Media Reviews

'Victor Sebestyen's vivid panoramic work is a fine account... the writing is taut, the scene-setting dramatic, giving the book an almost cinematic feel' -- Adam LeBor SUNDAY TIMES 'Sebestyen has made an excellent job of organising his disparate material, so that the reader can recapture, with the same sense of bafflement and elation, the events that made the Europe we live in - and after 20 years he can add understanding too.' -- Michael Fry SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'the tale fair rips along... a solid piece of storytelling of an exhillarating and enspiriting moment of history' -- Misha Glenny EVENING STANDARD 'Victor Sebestyen brilliantly pulls together the events that led to the fall of the Soviet empire... it still takes your breath away 20 years on.' -- Richard Beeston THE SPECTATOR 'digestible and entertaining' THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'pacy and vivid... a considerable achievement... [Sebestyen] is also a thoroughly professional writer with a gift not only for exposition but also evocation.' -- Anthony Howard DAILY TELEGRAPH 'a thrilling read... Sebestyen is good at sketching the leading players but he also succinctly conveys what life was like for the ordinary citizens' -- Christopher Sylvester DAILY EXPRESS 'Sebestyen has got the pace and the balance just right' THE SCOTSMAN 'rollicking mix of high drama and sordid reality... conventional history, spiced with telling quotations.' THE INDEPENDENT 'a compelling and illuminating account of a great drama in the history of our times which showed one again that ordinary men and women really can change the world.' -- Jonathan Dimbleby THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Sebestyen's strength is his sharp focus and racy prose... Here is history written like a Greek tragedy... In Revolution 1989 nothing is taken for granted until the last triumphant page.' -- Michael Binyon THE TIMES 'Sharp focus and racy prose capture the events and decisions that fed into the growing turmoil across Eastern Europe as the East German regime crumbled.' THE TIMES 'We're Reading' 'It's a complex story spanning many countries, but this exciting yet deeply researched work brings it impressively to life... compelling.' -- Simon Sebag Montefiore THE OBSERVER 'Revolution 1989 is a lucid primer on the background to, and events of that magical year. Sebestyen's narrative is clear, entertaining and sure-footed' -- Angus Macqueen THE GUARDIAN 'Victor Sebestyen's book is worth a dozen rehashes of World War II by Andrew Roberts and his clones... Sebestyen's record of the 1980s is a compelling, page-turning read. Finely edited by his publisher, his book is a precise step-by-step account of the high politics and the big-name political players in the years between the August 1980 strikes in Gdansk and the crumbling of the Berlin Wall nine years later' -- Denis MacShane TRIBUNE 'Vivid personal glimpses and striking details... Victor Sebestyen's book is full of sharp snapshots and crisp narrative' -- Timothy Garton Ash New York Review of Books 'Revolution 1989 is a superbly written and impressively documented chronicle of the year John Paul II described as an annus mirabilis... Sebestyen provides a vivid portrait of the Stalinist leaders and their endless cynicism' -- Vladimir Tismaneanu TLS 'a digestible and colourful history of that miraculous year' THE ECONOMIST 'Sebestyen's brilliantly written narrative unfolds in brief, gripping episodes' NEWSWEEK 'masterly handling of this complex and fast-moving story and its ever-changing cast' DAILY MAIL 'Sebestyen's writing is as exhilarating and powerfully emotional as the events he describes... In a narrative as intoxicating as it is intricate, Revolution 1989 not only encompasses the political confrontations which fomented revolt but uses brief, skilful vignettes of ordinary lives to recreate the world behind the Iron Curtain.' -- Lisa Hilton THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'a superb concise retelling of the collapse of the Soviet Empire... this book is superlative and an essential read for anyone wishing to understand the development of the EU since 1989.' JOURNAL OF THE LAW SOCIETY SCOTLAND

Author Bio

Victor Sebestyen was born in Budapest. He was an infant when his family left Hungary as refugees. As a journalist, he was worked on numerous British newspapers. He reported widely from Eastern Europe when Communism collapsed in 1989. He covered the war in former Yugoslavia. At the London Evening Standard he was foreign editor, media editor and chief leader writer. His highly acclaimed first book, TWELVE DAYS (W&N 2006), was an account of the 1956 Hungarian uprising.