KGB master of the Soviet Union/ by Peter Deriabin and T.H. Bagley
- London Robson Books 1990
- 466 p.
Mikhail Gorbachev has been hailed as the herald of a new era of international coopera tion. This uncompromising book argues that Gorbachev might not be as revolutionary as we would like to believe. The authors show how Soviet foreign policy in fact stems from the leaders' struggle for internal power-and therefore how the KGB's operations abroad are afforded the highest priority. The true function of the organization is to keep the Party in power, whatever the human cost. It is estimated that while the population of the USSR has only doubled since 1905, the repressive apparatus of the KGB has in creased eight-fold.
Whereas other books on the KGB empha size its subversive role in foreign countries, this book, uniquely written from an insider's viewpoint, focuses on its dominant role within the Soviet system. In the most comprehensive and authoritative survey of the activities of the KGB to date, the authors look back to its founding in 1917, and also put current events in perspective. Most importantly, they provide sound guidelines by which Western observers can distinguish fundamental from superficial change.