The story of Eastern Europe from the Czech Spring to the Polish August, with a focus on Soviet efforts to bring greater unity to the bloc and then to limit the dangers resulting from "economic deterioration, ideological erosion and political malaise." The author, a Radio Free Europe official, makes good use of RFE's impressive research in addition to voluminous material from Soviet, East European and Western sources. It is a detailed, balanced book, in the nature of a sequel to Zbigniew Brzezinski's The Soviet Bloc.