Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982. During Brezhnev's time Soviet power seemed at its height and increasing: space missions, rising living standards at home, a strong foreign policy reach into all parts of the world including Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the equal of the United States as a nuclear power. Yet, as this book, which provides a comprehensive overview and reassessment of Brezhnev's life, early political career and career as leader, shows, the seeds of Soviet decline were sown in Brezhnev's time.