Khrushchev on Khrushchev: An Inside Account of the Man and His Era, by His Son, Sergei Khrushchev [Hardcover]

Sergei Khrushchev (Author), William Taubman (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1990

The son of Nikita Khruschev offers a personal insight into the Khruschev era.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Sergei Khrushchev writes of his father's fall from power and final years in sometimes rambling but occasionally astute detail, rendering a sympathetic portrait that captures the impetuosity and contradictoriness for which the First Secretary is so well remembered. Born in the late 1930s, Sergei is perhaps too young to really know much about his father's role under Stalin, and his account is probably influenced by the current trend of Brezhnev-bashing, since that late statesman emerges here as the weakest and most depraved of characters. Still, this will be of interest even to casual students of the Soviet elite, and the occasional comments of the book's editor/translator, Amherst sovietologist Taubman, are a valuable check against the tricks of memory.
- Robert Decker, Columbia
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 472 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; 1st edition (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316491942
• ISBN-13: 978-0316491945
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,301,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique reading on 'Mr. K', December 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Khrushchev on Khrushchev: An Inside Account of the Man and His Era, by His Son, Sergei Khrushchev (Hardcover)

Nikita S. Khrushchev was perhaps the most interesting leader the Soviet Union ever had, and was certainly one of the most intriging characters of the 20th century. A strange mix of the wise and the foolish, he tried, but could not significantly change, the U.S.S.R. for the better. In some ways, Gorbachev was the "Khrushchev" of this time, and not the other way around.

I read this book in grad school and could not put it down. As the son of, as the Americans called him, 'Mr. K,' Sergei Khrushchev had a special perspective on this man and his time, and this is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject. The younger Krushchev certainly loved his father, and it shows in the book sometimes to access, but by and large the account is objective.

There are several touching and personal passages in the book, too numerous to mention here. I was particularly taken with the episode in which the younger Krushchev found out about the coup that was about to overtake his father and warned him that (rough transcription): "X is setting up a coup against you." He then got the shock of his life when his father came home from the Politburo the next day ranting (rough transcription again): "You silly boy! I just spoke to X today. He says there's no coup going on!" Classic Nikita S. Khrushchev.

Sergei N. Khrushchev has succeeded in producing a sensitive, illuminating account of a special time in our world. The book is an easy and concise read, yet the reader will come out with a very deep understanding of so many of the people and forces that shaped that time. This is what good reading is supposed to be. Bravo!