{"product_id":"collapse-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union","title":"Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union","description":"\u003cdiv data-a-expander-name=\"book_description_expander\" data-a-expander-collapsed-height=\"280\" class=\"a-expander-collapsed-height a-row a-expander-container a-spacing-base a-expander-partial-collapse-container\" style=\"max-height: none; height: 280px;\"\u003e \u003cdiv data-expanded=\"false\" class=\"a-expander-content a-expander-partial-collapse-content\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union‚Äîshowing how Gorbachev‚Äôs misguided reforms led to its demise\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‚ÄúA deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.‚Äù‚ÄîRodric Braithwaite, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‚Äú[A] masterly analysis.‚Äù‚ÄîJoshua Rubenstein, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 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 with 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.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 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‚Äôs misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCollapse\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances‚Äîand the fragility of authoritarian state power.\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-header a-expander-partial-collapse-header\" style=\"opacity: 1; display: block;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-content-fade\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"javascript:void(0)\" role=\"button\" data-action=\"a-expander-toggle\" class=\"a-declarative\" data-a-expander-toggle='{\"allowLinkDefault\":true, \"expand_prompt\":\"Read more\", \"collapse_prompt\":\"Read less\"}'\u003e\u003ci class=\"a-icon a-icon-extender-expand\"\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-expander-prompt\"\u003eRead more\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50548215841053,"sku":"9780300268171","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0901\/5692\/5213\/files\/9780300268171.jpg?v=1761675986","url":"https:\/\/bookdelico.com\/products\/collapse-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union","provider":"Book Delico ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}