Two of the authors of this book worked in the Soviet Union during the period of Gorbachev’s “perestroika”: Rodrick Braithwaite was the British Ambassador to the USSR, Jack Matlock was the US Ambassador. They knew Mikhail Gorbachev well, met with him many times, and in addition, knew his associates and enemies. The third of the authors, Strobe Talbott, was an adviser and Deputy Secretary of State of the United States, had influence on the foreign policy of the United States, including in relation to USSR. In their memoirs they write about how Gorbachev carried out “perestroika”, about his negotiations and secret agreements with R. Reagan and G. Bush, with M. Thatcher. In addition, it tells in detail about such prominent figures of the perestroika era as B. Yeltsin, A. Yakovlev, E. Shevardnadze, Yu. Afanasyev; about V. Kryuchkov, D. Yazov, E. Ligachev; about the State Emergency Committee and its failure; about the “democratic revolution” and the collapse of the USSR. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.