AT COLD WAR'S END: US INTELLIGENCE ON THE SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE, 1989-1991, Benjamin B. Fisher, ed. CIA, 1999, ISBN 1-929667-02-7. This is a compendium of national intelligence estimates and assessments divided into four topic areas, starting with NIE's covering the political crisis in the USSR, focused on Gorbachev and the perils of Perestroika; continuing with NIE's addressing the situation in Eastern Europe and the end of empire; and followed by NIE's on "new thinking" in Soviet foreign policy, and on the military balance of conventional forces in Europe. The editor, Ben Fisher, wrote a masterly Foreword that is worth the price of admission. It is an outstanding summary capturing a set of momentous and convoluted - almost unexplainable - events. This is a basic source document -- a contribution to knowledge by CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence. Highly recommended, especially for students of international politics. Copies are available from GPO orders@gpoi.gov, or NTIS order@ntis.fedworld.gov, and the text can also be found on CIA's website www.cia.gov. (Jonkers)

Reviewed in AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #02-00