An Interactive Biography of Nikita Khrushchev (Enhanced Edition) Book

Includes video of Khrushchev's famous shoe banging at the United Nations.
Includes video of the Kitchen Debate with Richard Nixon.
Includes videos about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Includes pictures of Khrushchev and important people, places, and events.

"We will bury you." – Nikita Khrushchev

Everyone has read about history's most important people and events in dense textbooks and classrooms, but words can only say so much. In Charles River Editors' Interactive Biography series, history comes to life in video and audio, allowing people to not only read history but truly experience it, through the eyes and ears of the people who were there.

Stalin had ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist for nearly 30 years before his death in 1953, after which he was succeeded by long-time Stalinist Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev had managed to stay a step ahead of Stalin's purges, perhaps only because he participated in them.

A barely known figure outside of the Eastern bloc, Khrushchev was derided as a buffoon by one Western diplomat and mocked for his physical appearance by others, but any Western hopes that he would prove a more conciliatory figure than Stalin were quickly snuffed out as the hard-line Khrushchev embraced confrontational stances. In a statement to Western diplomats at the Polish embassy in Moscow, Khrushchev famously warned, "We will bury you." And after his first meetings with President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy famously compared Khrushchev's negotiating techniques to his own father's. Even today, one of Khrushchev's most memorable moments is banging his shoe at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September 1960 while a Filipino delegate was speaking.

Personal histrionics aside, Khrushchev meant business when dealing with the West, especially the United States and its young president, John F. Kennedy. After sensing weakness and a lack of fortitude in Kennedy, Khrushchev made his most audacious and ultimately costly decision by attempting to place nuclear warheads at advanced, offensive bases located in Cuba, right off the American mainland. As it turned out, the Cuban Missile Crisis would show the Kennedy Administration's resolve, force Khrushchev to back down, and ultimately sow the seeds of Khrushchev's fall from power. By the time he died in 1971, he had been declared a non-citizen of the nation he had ruled for nearly 20 years.

An Interactive Biography of Nikita Khrushchev looks back at Khrushchev's most famous moments, but it also explores how the poor peasant rose to power, his politicking and brutality during the Stalin era, and his time as the Soviet premier. Along with video and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Khrushchev like you never have before.