Chapter 19 Summary

By the end of 1989, Andrei Sakharov has become a mythic hero in the eyes of the Soviet people. As a People's Deputy, he tirelessly fights for the rights of Soviet people and publicly challenges and prods Gorbachev and the Party. Sakharov realizes that the Soviet Union is on the slow road to perestroika and urges Gorbachev to pick up the pace before it is too late. When Gorbachev ignores his pleas, Sakharov, Yeltsin, Anfanasyev and economist Gavriil Popov form the Inter-Regional Group, a radical opposition in the legislature. Sakharov pushes for the repeal of Article 6 of the constitution, which guarantees the Communist Party will have a monopoly on power. On Dec. 14, 1989, after a long, difficult day, Sakharov tells his wife, Yelena, he is going to take a nap. When she goes to wake him, she finds him dead in the hallway.

Sakharov's death...