The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze

by Melvin A. Goodman, Carolyn Mcgiffert Ekedahl

Release Date: April, 1997

Edition: Hardcover

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interesting, education, not deep enough

Shevardnadze is one of the great men of the century(in diplomacy anyway). Unfortunatly he is sandwhiched between the Dobrynin/Groymko periods of the cold war and the more chaotic period of Yeltsin. After all we have forgotten Gorbachev and the period of Glasnost. Is this because the Russians have a propensity to forget them? Its not clear.
Nevertheless this is the only book on Mr. Shevardnadze(the only one I could find). SO its an important document. It seems to glossy to me. It seems to not get at the beef, the meat of what was happening from 1980-1990. I wish it detailed the afghanistan ending, I wish it detailed the various new nations created in the breakup of the Soviet empire. I wish it detailed the new voices that came to the fore in eastern europe. I dont think the book answers the question: How did so much happen, so fast? Obviously Shevardnadze was key. But then why arnt we told more about his role in shaping policy throughout the Russian sphere of influence. I feel that the book approaches the topic from a political scientists analytical eyes, disregarding the historical questions. Lacking flair and literary greatness the book is doomed, and yet essential for those who want to learn more about the Gorbachev era.

Necessary for the student of any type of Soviet studies

I bought this book because I am a student of all things Georgian. However, while reading the book, I was constantly impressed how important this book would be for anyone who wants to have even the most basic understanding of Cold War politics or Soviet/Post-soviet studies. The book is a nice synopsis of the events leading to the dismantling of the Soviet empire. Its most obvious flaw is the tiring repetition; Although I usually benefit from repetition as a comprehension tool, this book went overboard, and hearing the same thing repeated for the fifth or sixth time became distracting towards the end.

Considering that the jury is "still out" on Shevardnadze and his deeds, especially as president of Georgia, I found the author tended to lean towards a typical Baker/Schultz (and US foreign policy) pro-Shevardnadze conclusion.

Minor criticisms aside, I'm glad the author wrote the book, and I glad I read it.