World-renowned historian Serhii Plokhy presents a profoundly original page-turning account of
the Soviet Union's collapse BY THE AUTHOR OF CHERNOBYL: HISTORY OF A TRAGEDY WINNER OF THE
BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2018 WINNER OF THE PUSHKIN HOUSE RUSSIAN BOOK PRIZE 2015 On
Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. By the next day
the USSR was officially no more and the USA had emerged as the world's sole superpower.
Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy presents a page-turning account of the preceding five
months of drama filled with failed coups d'état and political intrigue. Honing in on this
previously disregarded but crucial period and using recently declassified documents and
original interviews with key participants he shatters the established myths of 1991 and
presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union's final months. Plokhy argues that
contrary to the triumphalist Western narrative George H. W. Bush desperately wanted to
preserve the Soviet Union and keep Gorbachev in power and that it was Ukraine and not the US
that played the key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The consequences of those five
months and the myth-making that has since surrounded them are still being felt in Crimea
Russia the US and Europe today. With its spellbinding narrative and strikingly fresh
perspective The Last Empire is the essential account of one of the most important watershed
periods in world history and is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to make sense of
international politics today. *** 'Fascinating and readable... Beautifully written.'
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ¿¿¿¿¿ 'Written like a good thriller The Last Empire recounts how chance
events and quirky personalities led within a few months in 1991 to the disintegration of the
empire built and maintained by generations.' GUARDIAN 'Wonderfully well-written... bracing
and timely... well worth reading.' THE TIMES
