The August Coup: The Destruction of the Soviet Union and the Making of New Russia 1985-1991, (Hardcover)

<p><b>'Lively and insightful' -<i> The Times</i><br>'Superb . . . A work of quite exceptional scholarship and narrative verve' - <i>Literary Review</i><br>'A must-read for those fascinated by the decline and fall of the USSR' - Mark Galeotti<br>'Immensely well-researched and compellingly written . . . grips the reader from page one' - Andrew Roberts</b> </p><p><b>From the acclaimed author of <i>Kremlin Winter</i> and <i>Blood on the Snow</i>, a dramatic and expertly researched account of an extraordinary moment in Russia's recent history: the August Coup.</b> </p><p>In the summer of 1991, a group of eight plotters came together to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachëv, then the president of the USSR. These ruthless conspirators, who occupied positions of high office, declared a state of emergency to restore stability through authoritarian rule. The reality turned out to be a shambolic failure which hastened the fall of the USSR and a pivotal shift from communism to capitalism. </p><p>Beginning with a minute-by-minute re-enactment of Gorbachëv's capture in his holiday home in Crimea, Robert Service follows the plot from its inception to its humiliating collapse. The troubling side effects of Gorbachëv's well-meant reforms in the Soviet Union - business fraud, government corruption, organized crime and interethnic conflict - increased exponentially, and a New Russia was born. Fathered by Boris Yeltsin, it brought lamentably less benefit to the Russian economy or its people than he had promised. </p><p>Linking the years from the coup itself to today's Russia under Vladimir Putin, <i>The August Coup</i> is a thoroughly compelling and original chronicle of a moment that changed Russian and global politics forever.</p>

• The August Coup: The Destruction of the Soviet Union and the Making of New Russia 1985-1991, (Hardcover)
• Author: Robert Service
• ISBN: 9781529065787
• Format: Hardcover
• Publication Date: 2027-04-13
• Page Count: 432