This autobiography firmly places Landsbergis in the
center of efforts to regain Lithuania's independence from the Soviet
Union . . . His account allows one to relive the heady
process of Sajudis's outmaneuvering not only the Communist Party of
Lithuania, but also the Soviet Congress and Mikhail Gorbachev. Landsbergis's
confrontational style is evident throughout . . . he
certainly shows the heroic aspects of recent Lithuanian history. (Choice)
. . . this is an important book, the first memoir by one of the Lithuanian political leaders to appear in English. Landsbergis held a notable place on the world stage in 1990 and 1991, and historians should take note of his own explanation of his politics . . . (Polish Review)
'Apart from its documentary value and the insights it affords into the personality of the author, this book is also significant because it prompts suggestions for further research into some of the themes or problems raised here.' (H-Net Review)
This work of the first President of newly-independent Lithuania is absorbing reading . . . (gwales.com)
The dramatic events of 13 January 1991 in Vilnius were crucial not only for the re-emergence of an independent Lithuania but for the break-up of the Soviet Union. Thousands of unarmed Lithuanians rallied to defend their Parliament against the encircling Soviet tanks and outside the TV tower several were crushed beneath their tracks. The television pictures flashed around the world revealed the reality of Gorbachov's Soviet Union and stirred the world's conscience.
In this book Vytautas Landsbergis, the first president of the new independent Lithuania, who led his people on that memorable night, retraces the process which led to those events and to the eventual admission of Lithuania into the United Nations: the shifting positions of Gorbachov and Yeltsin, the attitudes of George Bush, Mrs Thatcher, Mitterand, the solidarity with the other Baltic states, the struggle between old Communists and new democrats within Lithuania and the machinations of the KGB.
Landsbergis was born into a family of Lithuanian patriots and traces the influences upon himself as he grew up during the German and Soviet occupations. His interest in music and the arts generally (he was Professor of Music History and taught at the Vilnius Conservatoire) deepened his awareness and appreciation of Lithuanian culture and led him step by step into political life.
Besides being an impassioned personal statement and an essential document for historians of the last days of the Soviet Empire, this autobiography offers a unique insight into the life and capacity for survival of a small culture caught in the web of big-power politics.
Today Vytautas Landsbergis is Chairman of the Lithuanian Seimas or Parliament.
Eimutis Sova was Chairman of the Wales Baltic Society and Anthony Packer was formerly Lecturer at the School of Education, University of Wales Cardiff.
Available in North America from the University of Washington Press