Nikita Khrushchev: And the Creation of a Superpower

"Sergei Khrushchev is an intelligent observer; he had many opportunities to converse with his father, he overheard his father's discussions with others, and kept a record of the events which he had witnessed. He writes straightforward prose, without literary pretensions. The most valuable information which this book provides bears on something that for all its importance rarely emerges from documents, namely, attitudes and ambiance-the imponderables that determine how statesmen act."-Richard Pipes, Times Literary Supplement "This book is far more than a casual exculpatory portrait by a member of the family. For years, Khrushchev the younger has studied his father's leadership; in the late 1960s, he helped prepare the famous Khrushchev tapes. . . . He makes no excuses for his father and acknowledged his mistakes. Yet he also stresses the temper of the times, its mindset (including his own), and what the system permitted and required."-Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs