Revolution 1989

The Fall of the Soviet Empire

By: Victor Sebestyen

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Revolution 1989 by British journalist Victor Sebestyen is a comprehensive and revealing account of those dizzying days that toppled Soviet tyranny and changed the World. For more than 40 years, communism held eight European nations in its iron fist. Yet by the end of 1989, all of these nations had thrown off communism, declared independence, and embarked on the road to democracy.

©2009 Victor Sebestyen (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Cold War "101"

Would you consider the audio edition of Revolution 1989 to be better than the print version?

Never read the print.

What did you like best about this story?

The author researched well and I enjoyed the flow of information.

Have you listened to any of Paul Hecht’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't remember but he does a great job.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Nicolae Ceaușescu showed absolutely no remorse when confronted with his crimes.

Informative but exciting

Reads almost like fiction, it is well put together. A great way to learn more about how the Cold War ended.

The puzzle fits together

What did you love best about Revolution 1989?
For those who want to know why the Berlin wall fell

Engaging Informative Entertaining

Six stories of revolution - from Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, and bloodiest of all, Romania - filled with details and eye and earwitness accounts. Fine read and very good and steady narration.

Top notch popular history

If you're interested in this topic in a general way, you can't go wrong with this book. It was very readable, with great characterizations of the principals involved, plus lots of subtle humour. If it ever dragged slightly, it was never for long. By necessity, it had to jump from one country to another to cover them all and their interactions, but the descriptions of each were so vivid, I didn't find it hard to keep track. The fall of the Berlin Wall wasn't as emotional to me in its portrayal as it had been in another book, but that's fine too. The other book, one of fiction, works well as a companion piece to this one. The fiction one that I read first was Ken Follett's final book in the Century Trilogy, called the "Edge of Eternity". They each have their place, but really I'd say this one, 1989, is a stronger book, with no bias to speak of and entertaining enough to hold one's interest. Ken Follett's book covers a broader topic than eastern Europe, of course, with a major focus on the civil rights struggle. They are both great for casual history buffs who aren't really willing to slog through anything too dry in their free time!

Factual, historical and we'll written recollection

If you are even considering reading this, do it. This book offers a compelling recollection of the failures and subsequent fall of the failed communist states in Eastern Europe from the Brezhnev period up until the fall of Ceausescu in Romania.

A Beautiful Collapse

I've always felt the best compliment I can give a book is to say I wished it was longer. Revolution 1989 deserves my greatest compliments. This story is nearly 20 hours long I wished the whole while that it was at least 25. There is so much here and it is so interesting. You'll watch it unfold with wonder and excitement, I promise.

It examines the Soviet Union, specifically the satellite states, from the appointment of Pope John Paul II in 1978, to Nicolae Ceausescu's execution in December of 1989. The scope of this book is immense, we watch three Russian dictator's come and go and see the progression that will lead to the collapse of Eastern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, the Ukraine, and Poland. At the end, Russia stands as a completely different country. How did all these events happen within months of each other in relatively bloodless uprisings?

That's a lot of ground to cover and I wanted to get to know all the amazing people who made it happen. As it is, we get to see them on a cursory level but have to move quickly through time, as there is so much to cover (my favorite two chapters were in Chernobyl and the revolution in Romania during Ceausescu's last speech.) It's incredible that a 20 hour book can feel rushed, but this does.

That said, it's an amazing book. Even though these events happened in my lifetime, I did not see them for all their colors and intrigue. So here it is, a book that isn't perfect, but one that's on my Highly Recommended List.

Terrific overview; well-written; wonderfully read

An outstanding review of the events leading up to the Fall of the Wall and relatively peaceful revolutions in the Soviet satellite states.

The book is detailed but never dry. The author tells a balanced story, explaining that the economic decay of the Warsaw Pact nations ultimately doomed its members while describing the individuals, events, and specific actions that perpetuated the historic changes of 1989.

Excellent reader - interesting voice and never annoying.

Unsurpassed

I bought this book to try to understand the events that lead to the fall of the Soviet Empire. I lived through the period as an adult and thought I knew what happened, but also thought that an actual history might help me understand the underlying events that caused the fall. I expected to be slightly bored by a retelling of events that I thought I knew, but expected to learn enough new to be worth the time. What I found was a fascinating book that kept me entralled as much as any suspense novel. I also found that much that I thought I knew was either wrong or incomplete.

Mr Sebestyen's book follows the events in Eastern Europe chronologically so the book is constantly switching from what is happening in one country to the events in another country. I thought at first that this was going to be a distraction, but in the end it helped me understand why things happened because events in one country were often affected by those in another. Further, because Mr Sebestyen's writing is so good, the change of context from one country to another seems perfectly natural and helps the flow of the narrative.

Because the events are so recent and because the revolutions were, for the most part, so peaceful, many of the participants are still alive and willing to talk candidly. Their honesty and openness in explaining what happened and why is exemplified by one East German official who, in discussing the government's unwillingness to remove Erich Honecker to try to save the situation, said that they were idiots (although is use of idiom was somewhat more colorful).

I learned many things through this book and am reluctant to spoil the journey of discovery for others. Still some things are clear. Central to the story is the character of Mikhail Gorbachev without whom these events would have been very different. Also clear was that many of the people responsible for the fall of the Soviet sponsored Eastern European governments were part of those governments, people who were committed communists but were unwilling to stay in power if the only way they could do so was through the spilling of the blood of their own citizens. Also it must not be forgotten that without the citizens of the country, many of whom put their lives at risk, none of this could have happened.

The events in this book cover all of Eastern Europe except Yugoslavia, Albania (which is never even mentioned) and the Baltic Republics. These countries are all free today and this book describes why. The writing is wonderful, the narration is flawless and I not only learned much I did not know, but found myself reluctant, at times, to stop listening. I have seldom read history books as informative and enjoyable as this one. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in the turn history took in the late 20th century.

fascinating, well paced, and artfully performed. i

fascinating, well paced, and artfully performed. i only wish it had continued on to the fall of the Soviet union.