Memoirs
There may be no more enigmatic public figure than Mikhail  Gorbachev. This leader who guided the Soviet Union out of the quagmire  of socialism and paved the way for the liberation of Eastern Europe  is forgotten, even reviled, in his own land. Gorbachev's massive  autobiography hints at why he has been relegated to the dustbin of  history by the very people he helped set free. Capable of asking the  big questions, by nature and by training he was only able to attend to  the small details. Looking back on his career as a Communist  bureaucrat, he wonders, "How was it that any initiative which  patently served the interests of society was immediately viewed with  suspicion and even overt hostility? Why was our system so unresponsive  to renewal and innovation? Other [questions] crossed my mind. But I  was much too busy to give them serious consideration."