{"product_id":"armageddon-averted-the-soviet-collapse-1970-2000-paperback","title":"Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eStephen Kotkin\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing extensive revisions to the text as well as a new introduction and epilogue--bringing the book completely up to date on the tumultuous politics of the previous decade and the long-term implications of the Soviet collapse--this compact, original, and engaging book offers the definitive account of one of the great historical events of the last fifty years. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCombining historical and geopolitical analysis with an absorbing narrative, Kotkin draws upon extensive research, including memoirs by dozens of insiders and senior figures, to illuminate the factors that led to the demise of Communism and the USSR. The new edition puts the collapse in the context of the global economic and political changes from the 1970s to the present day. Kotkin creates a compelling profile of 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. Throughout the book, Kotkin also paints vivid portraits of key personalities. Using recently released archive materials, for example, he offers a fascinating picture of Gorbachev, describing this virtuoso tactician and resolutely committed reformer as \"flabbergasted by the fact that his socialist renewal\u003cbr\u003ewas leading to the system's liquidation\"--and more or less going along with it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once authoritative and provocative, \u003cem\u003eArmageddon Averted\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates the collapse of the Soviet Union, revealing how \"principled restraint and scheming self-interest brought a deadly system to meek dissolution.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcclaim for the First Edition: \u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The clearest picture we have to date of the post-Soviet landscape.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e--The New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A triumph of the art of contemporary history. In fewer than 200 pagesKotkin elucidates the implosion of the Soviet empire--the most important and startling series of international events of the past fifty years--and clearly spells out why, thanks almost entirely to the 'principal restraint' of the Soviet leadership, that collapse didn't result in a cataclysmic war, as all experts had long forecasted.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e-The Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Concise and persuasive The mystery, for Kotkin, is not so much why the Soviet Union collapsed as why it did so with so little collateral damage.\" \u003cbr\u003e--\u003cem\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStephen Kotkin\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of European and Asian History at Princeton University, where he also directs the Russian-Eurasian Studies Program. He is the author of nine books, including an acclaimed two-volume study of the rise and fall of Soviet socialism: \u003cem\u003eMagnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSteeltown, USSR: Soviet Society in the Gorbachev Era\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 7.4 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 23, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978820780333,"sku":"9780195368635","price":21.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/cEU5Y3J3aVRaQ3NydVJqVEJOcWlkdz09.webp?v=1775810488","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/armageddon-averted-the-soviet-collapse-1970-2000-paperback","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}