This book studies the way in which the top leadership in the Soviet Union changed over time
from 1917 until the collapse of the country in 1991. Its principal focus is the tension between
individual leadership and collective rule and it charts how this played out over the life of
the regime. The strategies used by the most prominent leader in each period - Lenin Stalin
Khrushchev Brezhnev and Gorbachev - to acquire and retain power are counterposed to the
strategies used by the other oligarchs to protect themselves and sustain their positions. This
is analyzed against the backdrop of the emergence of norms designed to structure oligarch
politics. The book will appeal to students and scholars interested in the fields of political
leadership Soviet politics and Soviet history.
