A top Russian interpreter; who spent 30 years on the front lines of diplomacy; offers excerpts from his journals--the result of his four years spent in the service of Mikhail Gorbachev--covering the pivotal period between 1987 and 1990; and including parts of Gorbachev's conversations with Reagan; Thatcher; and Bush; among others.
#683263 in Books 2000-10-17 2001-09-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .70 x 5.20l; .51 #File Name: 067978361X243 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Russian Arctic Story from 1900sBy Chey CobbThe story is during the years just prior to the First World War; so it's quite a few years later than most Arctic stories. The crew are sailing the seas to the north of Russia; looking for faster trade routes; similar to the searches for the Northwest Passage expeditions in North America. Like most of these stories; the ship and crew were woefully unprepared; ignorant of any Arctic lore; and huge personality clashes made even good days difficult. After abandoning ship and crossing the ice for months; there was one wrong-headed move after another.; which creates a lot of nail-biting incidents. It's written in diary style and is quite an easy and interesting read.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Great read during a snowstorm or a Polar VortexBy Michael GoellerThis is an incredible tale of survival; written in a spare style so appropriate to the setting. Picture this: it is 1913 and your ship has been stuck in Arctic ice for over a year; drifting with the floe further north each month. Fearing that you will not escape this icebound existence in the coming year; you decide to get some of your more hardy shipmates together and try to walk to land across the frozen Arctic Ocean; carrying over a month's worth of supplies by sledge and some handmade kayaks to make the final crossing to land. Besides the arduous task of dragging yourself and supplies across the ice; you and your crew face blizzard conditions; polar bears; surprisingly dangerous walruses; malnutrition; and all sorts of surprising challenges (including the dangers of vitamin A poisoning from eating polar bear liver - warning to the wise). Knowing that this is a true story makes it all the more compelling. I read this book every time the winter weather gets me down; just to remind myself that things could be worse than suffering through a week with the Polar Vortex. Highly recommended.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A tail of survivalBy Douglas TerryThis is a story of survival in the Artic. In the early 20th century the author sailed as navigator on an ill fated voyage into the Artic. The ship became locked in ice and eventually the author (of the dairy detailing this story) left the ship with several other men to try to reach islands to their south from which they might be rescued. They had a very rough go of it to say the least with bad ice; lack of food and necessities and attacks by polar bears and walrus. At times the story did seem to become somewhat repetitious with their hardships and could be a bit depressing and a bit long. But after all the hardships and disappointments the author and his companion were taken aboard a ship and got back to Russia. The story was well written. The characters were generally developed. For the most part the editing was good. There were some annoying run togethers in this Kindle version; especially in the earlier parts of the book; for example "before meto revealed" for :before me to reveal" The intended line was generally obvious with a 2nd look but could be initially confusing especially when the run together occurred at a line break.
