KHRUSHCHEV

by Mark Frankland ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 1967

Mark Frankland, a British journalist, possesses the newspaperman's ability to consense a myriad of details into an easily grasped story. Khrushchev is a successful popular political biography. Working without the aid of some important primary source material (unavailable to Western writers), the author, nevertheless, has managed to present a convincing study of Khrushchev the peasant's son, the Ukrainian bureaucrat, an agricultural trouble-shooter, the Premier--a story of the man ""for whom the Revolution was made, not of a man who in any sense made it."" Many of those with whom Khrushchev struggled for power--Malenkov, Beria and Kaganovich--served the Party and Stalin for longer periods. How this elephantine man managed to walk an often tight rope without falling victim to Stalinist purge or later, from 1959 until 1964, to maintain his balance as Premier is an incredible story, simply and effectively told. The famous warts are all there--the ""butchering"" of the Ukraine, the Berlin Crisis, the rattling of missiles in Cuba. Yet, one understands something of the personality of this once powerful man in history, traits which diplomats and presidents are fortunate to see. Although not so detailed as Edward Crankshaw's Khrushchev: A Career, this small volume should appeal to a wide audience.

Pub Date: May 19, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION