This was published on The Other Russia of E.V Limonov website in December of 2019, which can be found here in Russian https://drugoros.ru/biblioteka/moia-politicheskaia-biografiia/glava-1-vmesto-predisloviia

Chapter 1

Due to the lack of operational communication between the publishing house and the author, who is in custody in the pre-trial detention center of the FSB of Russia, the book is published in the author’s edition, without checking names and dates.

I confess that I do not even remember in detail the coming of Gorbachev. Shown on French TV channels. They said “young”. Before that, they died one after another: Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko. I was ashamed in front of my French friends. I have always boasted of the power of Russia, and here the only thing known about Russia is that coffins are carried to the cemetery. Well, I thought: “Young is good,” and nothing more. An additional factor of inattention to Gorbachev: Natalya and I parted ways. It was the spring of 1985. By June, Medvedeva and I parted ways, only to get back together in January 1986.

And later, throughout the second half of 1985 and throughout 1986, it was completely quiet for me on the other side of the planet where Russia was located. Once there were rumors that the vineyards were completely cut down, even in Georgia and Moldova, they said that in this way the new Secretary General was fighting alcoholism. In France – “cut down the vineyards” – sounded barbaric. Even Attila did not allow himself that. I interpreted what happened as wild tyranny. And calmed down. Everything was as always.

The fact is that for the other side of the planet where the Motherland is located, I have been calm all these ten years. I mean the first ten years lived in the West. I was sure that conservatism reigned stably and harshly there, that Russia was securely frozen. The fact that Russia was frozen was a certain inconvenience for the Russian intelligentsia and people of art, so I thought. But the same circumstance has a positive effect on the fate of the workers and peasants. They are privileged, though they don’t realize it.

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