"The stand-off between Russia and the west over military intervention in Georgia in 2008 raised the spectre of a new cold war between the world's military and economic powers. The timing of Andrei Grachev's book on the events that led to the end of the old Cold War, therefore, could not be better. Gorbachev's Gamble is a sympathetic and detailed analysis of how the last Soviet leader's 'new political thinking' brought about the break-up of the Warsaw Pact and of the Soviet Union itself in 1991."
Europe-Asia Studies

"This gripping book is one that deserves the attention of students of politics, international relations and history."
Slavonic and Eastern European Review

"The ultimate, definitive and conclusive account of one of the most transformative periods in modern history. As we continue to be shaped by the consequences of the critical years examined by Grachev, we shall continue to learn from this masterful book."
Amitai Etzioni, George Washington University

"Andrei Grachev, an important member of Gorbachev’s foreign policy team, writes as a participant-observer. His penetrating and well-informed account of the end of the Cold War, as seen from the Soviet side, offers a subtle and persuasive interpretation which will be a valuable corrective to much Western conventional wisdom."
Archie Brown, University of Oxford