Cold War, Chernobyl and change. How did Mikhail Gorbachev herald a new era of politics?

Stream Gorbachev: The Man Who Changed the World on BBC Select

Mikhail Gorbachev is feted as the man who ended the Cold War, ushering in a new era of collaboration with Reagan after the catastrophic disaster at Chernobyl.

How did this son of a peasant family become the youngest ever general secretary of the Communist Party and the last ruler of the Soviet Union? And how does his vision of a social-democratic Russia square with one with Putin in power?

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