The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The breakup of the Soviet Union, which effectively ended the cold war, was one of the most monumental world events of the twentieth century. This anthology chronicles the disintegration of the Soviet empire, from the reforms of the 1980s.

Gr 11 Up-A chapter summarizing the history of the Soviet Union from the end of the Brezhnev era to the collapse of the government introduces a compilation of excerpts from articles organized into five topical chapters. The emphasis is on the factors that contributed to the breakup beginning with the problems inherited by Gorbachev and his attempts at reforms that contributed to the disintegration of the empire. The final chapter on the aftermath deals only with military conflicts except for a short introduction to potentially volatile ethnic issues. Most of the essays are by scholars and were originally published between 1983 and 1992 in journals such as Foreign Affairs and Current History. The compendium includes short questions about each essay; excerpts from reports, speeches, and interviews; a chronology; suggestions for further research; and a one-page glossary that is much too short given the array of terms and names that appear in the book. Although a note indicates that some editing was done to make the works more accessible, the vocabulary at times will challenge even advanced students. However, help is given in the form of short introductions that summarize the arguments made and introduce the author of each piece.-Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign

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