This is a welcome addition to the scanty literature on the Baltic states. Sponsored by Radio Free Europe and largely written by its experts, the book traces the growth of the independence movements that have faced Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union with ever more urgent and difficult decisions. The authors show, more clearly and fully than the Western press, the existence of differing currents and factions in the nationalist movements, the plight of the local communist parties caught between the demands of the people and those of Moscow, and the gathering momentum of the pressure for full independence. The drama is not over; this is a good briefing for the acts still to come.
