NYT Op-Ed piece about Khruschev:

How a Speech Won the Cold War – New York Times
By WILLIAM TAUBMAN

FIFTY years ago today, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave a “secret speech” at the 20th Communist Party Congress that changed both his country and the world. By denouncing Stalin, whose God-like status had helped to legitimize Communism in the Soviet Bloc, Khrushchev began a process of unraveling it that culminated in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. This great deed deserves to be celebrated on its anniversary.

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Reading this kind of thing reminds me of how surprised I was to learn the differing versions of history between the USA and other parts of the world. I guess I was still young and naive then! While we learn of perestroika and glasnost and how Gorbachev brought about the momentous changes that led to the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the end of the so-called “cold war”, Americans (at least a large segment), behind their own velvet curtain, subscribed (or currently subscribe) to the idea that Ronald Reagan “won” the cold war, sealing it with his speech: “Mr. Gorbachev bring down this wall” (referring to the Berlin Wall). Perhaps the title of the piece quoted above is cleverly chosen to bring out this difference in our versions of history!