Collapse, Vladislav M. Zubok
Collapse, Vladislav M. Zubok
2 Rating(s)
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Collapse
The Fall of the Soviet Union

Author: Vladislav M. Zubok

Narrator: David de Vries

Unabridged: 23 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/30/2021


Synopsis

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev's misguided reforms led to its demise

In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four-million strong, five-thousand nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century.

Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev's misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

About Vladislav M. Zubok

Vladislav M. Zubok is professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of A Failed Empire, Zhivago's Children, and The Idea of Russia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on April 08, 2024

It was silly of me to try this book but it’s a subject that fascinates me, which is why I already read three books on the exact same thing*. And Collapse by Vladislav Zubok was one too many. I was dazzled by the triumph of the recent Watergate: A New History by Garrett Graff – that was yet another l......more

Goodreads review by Cool_guy on March 16, 2022

In many ways I feel that my understanding of the collapse of the Soviet Union is just as fuzzy as it was before I read Collapse. That's not really Zubok's fault. A high level political history of the disintegration of the USSR is bound to be borderline incoherent because the main actors had no idea......more

Goodreads review by Jon-Erik on December 05, 2021

A very well researched book. The central premise, despite some hedging, is that Gorbachev's messianic visions and poor execution caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was avoidable, and if the reforms had gone along the lines planned by Andropov, things would have been better. To some extent......more

Goodreads review by David on June 17, 2024

The only thing worse than living in a society dominated by an undemocratic ruling clique, is living in one where the clique refuses to rule. This is the main message of Zubok's Collapse. No single other factor was nearly as decisive in precipitating the end of the USSR: treason by selfish elites wor......more