This work looks at the Soviet Union as it finds itself at a key-point in its history. Throughout the country a slow renaissance is taking place, and the author attempts to analyze in which directions the Soviet Union is likely to be moving in 1988 and beyond. Tariq Ali was one of the best-known radicals of the 60s. He has been associated with many of the major figures of the period, from Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh to Bertrand Russell. He is on the editorial staff of "New Left Review". He also wrote "The Nehrus and the Ghandis" and "Street Fighting Years: An Autobiography of the Sixties".