The Soviet Union under Brezhnev

The Soviet Union Under Brezhnev provides an accessible post-Soviet perspective on the history of the USSR from the mid-1960-s to the mid-1980-s. It challenges both the -evil empire- image of the USSR that was widespread in the early 1980-s and the -stagnation- label attached to the period by Soviet reformers under Gorbachev.

The book makes use of a range of memoirs, interviews, archival documents and other sources not available before 1990 to place Brezhnev and his epoch in a broader historical context. The author:

    examines high politics, foreign policy and policy making
    explores broader social, cultural and demographic trends
    presents a picture of Soviet society in the crucial decades prior to the upheavals and crises of the late 1980-s

While stopping well short of a full-scale rehabilitation of Brezhnev, Tompson rejects the prevailing image of the Soviet leader as a colourless non-entity, dra