There Is No Freedom Without Bread! 1989 and the Civil War That Brought Down Communism

by Pleshakov, Constantine

• ISBN13: 9780312655334
• ISBN10: 0312655339
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-28
• Publisher: Picador

Summary

The conventional story of the end of the Cold War is simple: Ronald Reagan waged an aggressive campaign against communism, outspent his opponent, and forced Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." In There Is No Freedom Without Bread! , Russian-born historian Constantine Pleshakov proposes a different interpretation. The revolutions that took place in 1989 were the result of politicking, tensions between Moscow and local governments, compromise between revolutionary leaders and communist old-timers, and the will and anger of the people. In a dramatic narrative culminating in that whirlwind year, Pleshakov challenges the received wisdom and argues that 1989 was as much about national civil wars and internal struggles for power as it was about the Eastern Europeans throwing off the yoke of Moscow.

Author Biography

Constantine Pleshakov is the author of several works of history, including Stalin’s Folly, The Tsar’s Last Armada, The Flight of the Romanovs, and Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War. He teaches at Mount Holyoke College and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
1942-1979
War Brings License: 1942-48	p. 11
Communism Rises: 1949-77	p. 40
The Pope Arms 150 Divisions: 1978-79	p. 76
1980-1988
The Working Class Strikes: 1980-81	p. 103
The Revolution Winters: 1982-88	p. 124
1989
The "Polish Disease" Spreads: June-September	p. 163
The Wall Opens Up; the Magic Theater Raises the Curtain: October-November	p. 185
Gorbachev Stumbles, Ceausescu Falls: December	p. 208
Epilogue	p. 231
Notes	p. 239
Bibliography	p. 265
Acknowledgments	p. 273
Index	p. 275
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