M. : Olma Press, 2001. - 671 s. A well-known representative of “fact literature” Nikolai Zenkovich for the first time in Russian historiography compiled a chronicle of the life of M. C. Gorbachev before his election to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU . The book contains many little-known facts about the Stavropol period of his activity, about family roots, work in Komsomol and party bodies of the region. Who gave M. C. Gorbachev a recommendation for joining the CPSU? Who sat with him in the same office at the initial stages of the Komsomol and party career? What was the fate of these people? What results did the future Secretary General and the President for 23 years of leadership in the region? A lot of new will learn from those chapters, , [ which describes the activities of the M.. [ [ C. Gorbachev as "ordinary" secretary of the Central Committee and member of the Politburo .