With a Foreword by Jack F. Matlock Jr., Former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union

A fascinating insiderÂ’s account of the tumultuous era of perestroika, which brought an end to the Soviet Union.

"Anatoly Chernyaev’s portrayal of the perestroika period is the most significant memoir by former Soviet officials published up to now. It will be an irreplaceable source for historians. But it is more than that. It is an absorbing account of the way Soviet policy was made in the last years of the Soviet empire. [It contains an insightful and instructive description of the steps by which Europe was united and the Cold War ended.] And, by no means least, it gives us some understanding of the author, hitherto little known to the American public, but one of the most remarkable of those statesmen who helped end the arms race, the Cold War, and the isolation of his own country."—from the Foreword

"Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic leadership, which transformed Russia and international relations, cannot be fully understood without the diary-memoir of Anatoly Chernyaev, one of his most important advisers and closest confidants. Splendidly translated, edited, and introduced by Robert English and Elizabeth Tucker, his Six Years with Gorbachev is now available to everyone who wants to comprehend those final momentous events of the twentieth century."—Stephen F. Cohen, New York University

Drawing on his own diary as well as secret documents and transcripts of high-level meetings, Anatoly Chernyaev recounts the drama that swept the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1991. As GorbachevÂ’s chief foreign policy aide for most of that period, he played a central role in efforts to halt the arms race, discard a confrontational ideology, and open his country to the world. And as GorbachevÂ’s confidant on many domestic issues as well, Chernyaev offers rare insights into the struggle over glasnost, the growth of separatism, and the rise of Boris Yeltsin. While admiring of perestroikaÂ’s founder, Chernyaev is frank in faulting Gorbachev for his hesitancy in economic reforms, for his delay in decentralizing Union-republic ties, and above all for his misplaced faith in the reformability of the Communist Party. Altogether this book is essential reading for those interested in the Cold WarÂ’s end, the USSRÂ’s collapse, and especially the role played by ideas, ambitions, and key pers! onalities in these momentous events.