The last years of the Soviet empire : snapshots from 1985-1991
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The last years of the Soviet empire : snapshots from 1985-1991
Praeger, 1993
Available at 11 libraries
Note
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Between 1985 and 1991, the Soviet Union was shaken to its core by a series of remarkable social and political developments. Throughout the period, the eminent Sovietologist Vladimir Shlapentokh monitored the revolution and recorded his impressions in a series of essays which were published in major North American newspapers and periodicals. Here Shlapentokh collects these snapshots of current events that detail the progression of perestroika and glasnost. The essays and accompanying narrative form a kind of political diary, reflecting not only the facts of history, but the author's perspective as a Soviet/Western observer.
Each chapter focuses on a single year. The snapshots from that year are woven together with narrative describing the year's most important milestones, including events in Moscow, results of new polls, new social trends, and revelations in the Soviet mass media. Surprisingly, Shlapentokh concludes that perestroika was not inevitable, and that the Soviet Union was not, as many scholars assert, doomed to collapse. The author's unusual perspective is preserved throughout the book, since none of the essays, including those that predicted future events, have been altered to more closely approximate events that actually took place. Recommended for scholars of sociology, political science, and Soviet history.
Table of Contents
- 1985-1986: Initial Steps Toward Modernization Gorbachev's Reforms: Ritual or Reality?
- June, 1985 1987--The Beginnings of Real Change and Real Unrest Ethnic Tensions Smolder in Russia
- January, 1987 1988--Political Progress, Economic Decline, and Increasing Tension 1989--The Masses Speak Out 1990--The Battle Over the Empire 1991--The End of the Empire Gorbachev: The World's Most Important Hostage
- August, 1991 The Most Bourgeois Revolution in History
- August, 1991 Emperor Francis-Joseph: Ten Heads of State are not Viable, September, 1991 Conclusion
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