Khrushchev And Khrushchevism
Edited by Martin McCauley
Indiana University Press, 1988, 243 pp.
With Khrushchev's restoration to a place in the history of the U.S.S.R. and a new era of reform brewing there, there is ample reason for both Soviet and Western observers to reevaluate him and his years in power. The time perspective helps. In this volume several British specialists review his achievements and failures in various fields of domestic and foreign policy. The editor poses the question whether Khrushchev's was a transitory, transitional or original leadership, and the authors give a variety of answers. It may be that "Khrushchevism" is not capable of clear definition, but in any case the book gives a good picture of the whole muddled combination of serious reforms, ideological innovation, "harebrained schemes" and personal idiosyncrasies which marked the Khrushchev decade.