{"product_id":"the-august-coup-robert-service-9781529065787","title":"The August Coup: The Destruction of the Soviet Union and the Making of New Russia 1985-1991","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lively and insightful' -\u003ci\u003e The Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Superb . . . A work of quite exceptional scholarship and narrative verve' - \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A must-read for those fascinated by the decline and fall of the USSR' - Mark Galeotti\u003cbr\u003e'Immensely well-researched and compellingly written . . . grips the reader from page one' - Andrew Roberts\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eKremlin Winter\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBlood on the Snow\u003c\/i\u003e, a dramatic and expertly researched account of an extraordinary moment in Russia's recent history: the August Coup.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the summer of 1991, a group of eight plotters came together to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachëv, then the president of the USSR. These ruthless conspirators, who occupied positions of high office, declared a state of emergency to restore stability through authoritarian rule. The reality turned out to be a shambolic failure which hastened the fall of the USSR and a pivotal shift from communism to capitalism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBeginning with a minute-by-minute re-enactment of Gorbachëv's capture in his holiday home in Crimea, Robert Service follows the plot from its inception to its humiliating collapse. The troubling side effects of Gorbachëv's well-meant reforms in the Soviet Union - business fraud, government corruption, organized crime and interethnic conflict - increased exponentially, and a New Russia was born. Fathered by Boris Yeltsin, it brought lamentably less benefit to the Russian economy or its people than he had promised. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLinking the years from the coup itself to today's Russia under Vladimir Putin, \u003ci\u003eThe August Coup\u003c\/i\u003e is a thoroughly compelling and original chronicle of a moment that changed Russian and global politics forever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robert Service\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 152906578X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781529065787\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Picador UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/13\/2027\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.12w x 1.00d","brand":"Robert Service","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48874661806335,"sku":"9781529065787","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-august-coup-robert-service-9781529065787","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}