A long-lived prime minister of Russia. New collection of memoirs about A.N. Kosygin

Abstract

The review analyzes the composition and content of a collection of memoirs and articles published in 2024 and dedicated to A.N. Kosygin, the head of the Soviet government in 1964–1980. The collection contains memoirs of his colleagues, his associates, his daughter L.A. Gvishiani-Kosygina and other authors. All the materials are distributed among groups: testimonies; impressions; East and West; dispute about Kosygin. The idea of the compilers – writer and historian A.I. Kolpakidi and writer and publicist A.A. Zamostyanov – was not only to recall the outstanding statesman once again (as similar publications and studies about him been published by now), but also to prove the groundlessness of a number of critical remarks referred to him, mainly because of the economic reform of 1965 in the USSR. Along with the analysis of the reform itself, the authors managed to make more understandable the personality of Kosygin, who occupied key government positions for 40 years, commanding respect in colleagues and ordinary citizens, and possessing unique diplomatic abilities.

The collection will be very useful for professional historians and a wide range of readers, who highly estimate the history of their Fatherland.