Gorbachev, who led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, dies at 91

Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. [AP photo/Boris Yurcheko, File]

MOSCOW (AP) - Before Mikhail Gorbachev came along, the Soviet Union seemed an immovable superpower in perpetual antagonism to the United States. With a breathtaking series of reforms, Gorbachev changed all that - and redirected the course of the 20th century.

Alongside Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Gorbachev was a key protagonist in a global drama that many thought impossible and, for those who lived through it, seemed almost surreal.