Collapse

The Fall of the Soviet Union

By: Vladislav M. Zubok

Narrated by: David de Vries

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, 5,000 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 20th 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.

©2021 Vladislav M. Zubok (P)2021 Tantor

One of the best books I’ve EVER read

I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child. This book makes it to my top-ten best books I’ve ever read or listened to in my entire life. Truly amazing! I’ve learned so much! A masterfully written, gripping narrative on the demise of the Soviet Union that is highly relevant for understanding today’s landscape.
My only wish is that professor Zubok would write a sequel on the 1990s…

A Detailed Depiction of the Collapse of the Soviet Union

Having grown up during the Cold War, and having visited Poland in Communist times, I was most interested in this topic. The author brought forward the importance of the personalities in Soviet Union and the West at this time. He included the economic situation of the Soviet Union as well. This book requires more reflection and further research to understand the collapse well. I am very happy to have taken the time this book required.

Soft Boiled Communists vs Hard Boiled Communists

This book is like a Gore Vidal irreverent farce, is this really "non fiction"? I watched this live history as a kid as the Soviets melted down in the 1990s. I figured it was a titanic struggle of serious men. This book shows these guys were basically naive dupes. The leading stooge wanted to turn his terrorist and evil Empire into Sweden so they could have restaurants with mountains of Pineapple, stocked supermarkets, and live opulently like West Germans. (Never understanding the underlying brilliant export industries that made this happen for Germany.) He prioritized his "celebrity" image in the western press as more important than being a leader to his own people. He was not self-aware of the ridiculous figure he was in the west, an unimpressive "George Costanza" leading a nation that could not manage the logistics of toilet paper. Ultimately Gorbi self-destructs the Soviet Union by alienating "Russians" from the USSR with his globalism and Europeanism. No Russia, no USSR, game over.

How to ruin an isolated economic system, he "reformed" and "liberalized" a nation without the concept of "price discovery" or "capital allocation", Easily, clever kepto-oligarchs stole like crazy from the arbitrage his reforms created. He "liberalized" under "Leninist" principles. Evidently, Gorbi not aware that Vlad Lenin was not an Economist, rather a mental patient. A patient that prior to being a dictator, had never actually held a job, ran a business, or successfully managed an independent household. Gorbi's economist lived intermittently in mental asylums, was a dead-beat son, and starved/murdered 10M Russians before Stalin ever took over in 1924. Germany sent Lenin to Russia in 1917 as a plague during WW1.

This book is good, but very silly on political terminology and economics. Maybe the author is as confused as Grobi on what freedom is. They keep referring to degenerate Communist purists as "Conservative". Old, vodka chugging, atheist commissars are "conservative" and "right wing" for this book? This author is probably too Eastern Block understand that "Conservative" philosophy dates to the 18th Century and emanates from Edmond Burke and is rooted in individual liberty, limited government, and rule of law. Burke was the philosophical opposition to murderous, utopian totalitarians like the Pro-Bolsheviks of 1792 France. Basically, just because a decrepit, evil Marxist wants to cling to his yellowing picture of Stalin on his Livingroom wall, that is not a 'Conservative'.

This book is cool and should be read, but you come away with zero respect for the Soviet Union's demise. Gorbi destroyed his nation and essentially wrecked Eurasian civilization, basically. Spains Carlos IV, Britain's Lloyd George, and Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II are Gorbi's historical peers. Gore Vidal could make this 50x more fun.

Should be required reading!

What an illuminating, in-depth coverage of the disintegration of the USSR. As I kept listening to this wonderful book, all I kept saying was, “I had no idea!” I had no idea that the USSR was so broke, on the verge of bankruptcy. I had no idea that, both Gorbachev & Yeltsin, that each wanted desperately that their country become a member of the European Union and NATO. I had no idea that the Clinton administration chose to help China and Eastern Europe, instead of the fledgling Russian Federation and other former Soviet republics. Instead, the U.S. let the former Soviet republics, including Russia, sink into economic anarchy and collapse. What a missed opportunity for peace in the world! What would the world be like today if the United States had made Russia feel included and respected, a member of NATO? Instead, the United States did everything in its power to elevate China to the economic, political and military power it is today, losing millions of American jobs in the process.
My only criticism of this book is that I feel that the excellent conclusion chapter should be the first chapter of the book because in the rest of the book, the author goes into such detail describing the week by week events that led to the fall of the USSR, that at times it felt overwhelming. Had I seen the forest, I would not have gotten occasionally lost in the trees. Despite this, however, I loved this book and will be listening to it a second time in the future. It should be required reading to understand the Russian mind, the Russian perspective on world matters that it considers an existential threat, to understand Russian history, to understand the present geopolitical and military state of affairs and to understand what might occur in the future if our leaders fail to make wise and brave choices regarding this area of the world. We finally know, thanks to this book, the truth as to what happened in the former USSR during those pivotal years of 1987 - 1992.

A very difficult topic very well explained

Endlessly complicated curcumstances made simpler and easy to digest. The book doesn't waste time and is properly chronologically laid out. Was a great listen. Thank you.

The Book Was Better

A VERY thorough recount of history, so much so that it's better to grab the print version of this book. The author names everyone in politics and their reaction to anything that occurred in the late 80's and early 90's USSR; it will make your head spin. I would only recommend this book to someone who is very versed in Russian history and the major events surrounding the collapse of the Soviet Union. With that said, it is a very enjoyable read for anyone who has an interest in Soviet/Russian history.

The narrator, however, is monotonous and listening to him read this book was almost painful after the first 45 minutes. Coming back to this audiobook was insufferable- which is truly a shame because the content of the book is very good. The narrator pronounces the Slavic names differently almost every time he says them and it ends up being very confusing to the listener. I found myself having to pause and rewind many times, especially in the beginning of the book, because of the mispronunciations.

Deep analysis

The audiobook reviews the last years of the Soviet Union until its fall in 1991. The main thesis of the author is that the fall of the Soviet Union was not a necessary outcome, but rather a result of decisions by Gorbachev and Yeltsin. The book is well documented and the analysi is quite thorough.

Great book, very detailed

definitely recommend this book especially because of its increased relevance today than before. quite a gripping listen, sometimes sounding like a fiction more than a reality, which makes the book even crazier

Exceptionally detailed account of the end of the Union

Very well written and acted book that documents a time in history most Americans have no knowledge on

Comprehensive and insightful

Though the focus of the coverage is on individual leadership, it thoroughly explains the rise of separatists in the republics and inactions of the Soviet state in crisis. Well worth of the time in listening. The book provides a comprehensive historical narrative on the collapse of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991, with a focus on leadership failures of Gorbachev but also Yeltsin who undermined the former Soviet leader in every way possible. Different readers could draw different reading experiences and lessons, a sign of a good comprehensive coverage. My strong impression from the reading is on the critical role of various Soviet republics' nationalism in the collapse--the national separatism starting from Lithuania ,Estonia, Latvia eventually to Ukraine and Georgia and other republics, and importantly Russia under Yeltsin. But perhaps more important is the failure of Gorbachev, intensionally or unintentionally, to use the state institutions (the party, KGB, and Army) to save the union. Gorbachev's half-baked efforts to save the union is in stark contrast with Yeltsin's blatant acts to put Russia away from it.

The Soviet Union had a strong state but failing economy. The state could have been used in improving the economy, through market-oriented reforms, like what China did in the same period. Nevertheless, though Gorbachev didn't intentionally go out to dismantle the state's institutions, his acts largely rendered it in inaction, leading to the leadership failure in boosting the economy, and later collapse of the state under Yeltsin and rise of the Oligarch which eventually led to the rise of Putin and restoration of the authoritarian rule. The strong dose of national separatism and inaction of the state, made possible by Gorbachev's leadership vision and personality, were the root cause of the collapse.