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

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.

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.

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.

Excellent - Everyone should know this stuff

Would you listen to Revolution 1989 again? Why?

I would and I am - I finished it and immediately started again.

What about Paul Hecht’s performance did you like?

Good pace, good pronunciation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long for one sitting - But I got through it very quickly. I was using Wikipedia to get more details and check out some maps as I progressed through the book. This is fascinating stuff!

Any additional comments?

Get this and listen. Even being aware of a lot of this stuff I still found tons of new insight and information. If you don't know much about the Revolutions of 1989 and how the Commies fell apart this is a GREAT resource. EVERYONE should know ALL about this stuff!!

Masterpiece

Great book about the end of the cold war. Wonderful. Well presented and great narrator.