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November 13, 2012. Moscow.

The book by M. Gorbachev Alone with Myself

On November 13, 2012, a winner of the Noble Peace Prize, ex-president of the USSR, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev presented his new book “Alone with Myself” to the public in Moscow. On the first page there is a dedication, “To the Memory of my Wife.” After the passing away of Raisa Gorbacheva, the first (and only) president of the Soviet Union bore the burden of his memories literally alone with himself.

Autograph of M. S. Gorbachev on his book Alone with Myself

“For almost fifty years Raisa and I had been together, side by side, and were never weighed down by it, on the contrary, we were always happy together. We loved one another, but even alone with each other we rarely talked about it. It seemed to us that the most important thing was to keep on everything that was born in our youth. We understood one another and maintained our relationship.

I am haunted by the sense of guilt for Raisa’s death. I am trying to reconstruct it all in my memory – how could it happen that I was not able to save her?

If one is to take a broad view of the situation, seeing the twists of fate, which made me not just a participant of one of the most crucial turns in history, but the man, who initiated the process of renewal and promoted it, then, one might say that I was lucky. I knocked on the doors of history and they were opened – opened for those also I was endeavouring for.

I did not strive for power for the mere sake of it, neither did I try to impose my will at any cost.”

M. Gorbachev, Alone with Myself.

The book Alone with Myself is composed of three sections, My Universities, The Way to the Top, and How Perestroika was Made. The book immerses the reader into the atmosphere of the Soviet reality. According to the author, it is not so much an autobiography or memoirs; rather it is his reminiscences about the epoch, politics and culture of that time and the events that brought him to the office of the first and last president of the USSR.

There were many people at the presentation of different ages and different occupations. Mikhail Sergeyevich kindly answered the questions and gave his autographs.

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