Brezhnev and the Decline of the Soviet Union

Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982. During Brezhnev’s time Soviet power seemed at its height and increasing: space missions, rising living standards at home, a strong foreign policy reach into all parts of the world including Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the equal of the United States as a nuclear power. Yet, as this book, which provides a comprehensive overview and reassessment of Brezhnev’s life, early political career and career as leader, shows, the seeds of Soviet decline were sown in Brezhnev’s time.