The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union

The recent Russian-Ukrainian crisis has its roots in the breakup of the Soviet Union. Here, Plokhy (Ukranian history, Harvard Univ.; Yalta: The Price of Peace) details the collapse of the USSR in late 1991. His contention is that the USSR, which he views as the last great European empire, dissolved under the stress of internal tensions and ethnic clashes. Rejecting the notion that the United States won a great victory in the Cold War, the author uses the memoirs, correspondence, and other writings of American and Soviet officials to strengthen the picture he puts forth of an American leadership that failed to understand the players and movements shaping Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Plokhy's cleanly written narrative presents a clear view of the complex events and numerous parties involved in the Soviet Union's demise as well as the reasons that the Soviet government could not ultimately rein in Ukrainian and Russian national movements.