Synopses & Reviews
In 1991, the world looked in amazement at the collapse of the Soviet Union. But as Stephen Kotkin asserts in his concise, uncompromising history, this downfall was neither sudden nor unexpected but rather inevitable.
Combining historical and geopolitical analysis with an absorbing narrative, Kotkin draws upon extensive research, including memoirs of dozens of insiders and senior figures. He illuminates the factors that led to the demise of Communism and the USSR, putting the collapse in the context of the global economic changes from the 1970s to the present day, examining for example why the advent of Siberian oil had profound effects on the Soviet Union's raison d'etre. Kotkin also provides vivid portraits of key personalities. Using recently released archive materials, for example, he paints a new picture of Gorbachev's rise to General Secretary. Further, we see Gorbachev, the virtuoso tactician and resolutely committed reformer, "flabbergasted by the fact that his socialist renewal was leading to the system's liquidation"--and more or less going along with it. Here, too, is Boris Yeltsin, full of the theatrics and "ham-handed populism" that especially aggravated Gorbachev. Finally, Kotkin creates a compelling profile of the "stable mess" that is post-Soviet Russia and he reminds us, with chilling immediacy, of what could not have been predicted--that the world's largest police state, with several million troops, a doomsday arsenal, and an appalling record of violence, would liquidate itself with barely a whimper.
At once authoritative and provocative, Armageddon Averted illuminates the collapse of the Soviet Union, revealing how "principled restraint and scheming self-interest brought a deadly system to meek dissolution."
Review
"Excellent....A great deal has been published on the subject, but it has generally been in article and monograph form. There are several student textbooks, but I cannot think of any that discusses the fall of the USSR in the context of the debate so clearly; nor can I think of many short, analytical surveys that would appeal to a general readership as well as to students" Dr. David Priestland, St Edmund's Hall, Oxford University
Review
"Punchy in style, full of insight, opinionated in the best sense. It contains many distinctive themes and emphases" Prof. Steve Smith, Essex University
Synopsis
This is the story of the structural factors behind the Soviet Collapse, which did not suddenly end in 1991, and the relation of the structural to the great personalities such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Using several dozen memoirs of insiders, including top KGB personnel, and many previously classified documents, this book narrates and explains not just the collapse of socialism but also of the Union and in a comparative framework shows how and why the two collapsed together.
About the Author
Stephen Kotkin is Director of Russian Studies at Princeton University has written an acclaimed two-volume case study on the rise and fall of Soviet socialism:
Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization and
Steeltown, USSR: Soviet Society in the Gorbachev Era. Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: History's Cruel Tricks
1. Pursuing the Dream
2. The Drama of Reform
3. Waiting for the End of the World
4. Cannibalism in the Rust Belt
5. Ongoing Collapse
Conclusion: Explications and Implications
Suggested Readings