"What's that saying-those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it? As the West confronts a newly aggressive Russia, it's important to understand the context of the Cold War from one of the most crucial years. Marvin Kalb's chronicle of the Soviet Union in 1956 doesn't just provide that context, but because it's part memoir, it adds a personal touch that allows readers to feel like they are reliving the author's experiences alongside him. And because this is a Kalb book, you know it's not only well researched and accurate, but smart and insightful."-Chuck Todd, Moderator, "Meet the Press," and NBC News Political Director "Here is a detailed, first-person account by a young American who spent all of 1956 in Moscow and traveled around the Soviet Union as well. The result of these adventures has now become a lively book, the greatest virtue of which is Kalb's own presence in its pages. This is a unique document of its time by a witness to history who went on to become a major figure in American broadcast journalism."-William Taubman, Professor of Political Science, Amherst College, and author of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era "A remarkable, reported memoir, full of life and fascinating historical context, true to the principled journalistic leadership of Marvin Kalb. Elegantly economical in prose, rich in insight-a great read.

"-Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent "Marvin Kalb's account of the bumpy transition from Stalin's dictatorship to a normal Russian society is extremely important. America and Russia are different civilizations, and we must learn to meet, and sniff, each other. On each page that is what Kalb does so well. The year 1956 was the first step in a historic transition that continues to this day-from Khrushchev to Putin."-Sergei Khrushchev, author of Khrushchev on Khrushchev-An Inside Account of the Man and His Era, by His Son, Sergei Khrushchev "A fascinating memoir of a young American exploring Soviet society just after Stalin died. Based on notes Marvin Kalb made at the time, The Year I Was Peter the Great conveys a feel for Russian life with all the contradictory features that have puzzled and entranced foreign visitors to Russia through the ages."-Jack Matlock, former U.S.

Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1987-91, and author of Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended.