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socraticgadfly's review against another edition
5.0
Plokhy writes a very worth successor to his Yalta book, which I've also read.
With a bit more time separation, unlike Gorbachev and other "principals" who have already written away, and academic detachment, but with the connection of Ukranian heritage and being born in the USSR, Plokhy is well-positioned for a book like this.
And he doesn't disappoint.
Much of his focus is on neither Gorbachev but Boris Yeltsin, but on Ukraine's Leonid Kravchuk, as he pivots from being a Ukrainian Communist apparatchik to its leading politician, and pushing for the full break-up of the USSR.
Plokhy also explains the nearly 40 years of Russian-Ukrainian dynamics within higher Soviet ranks, from the start of Khrushchev on. He then ties in Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev as the other key player, after the failure of the August 1991 coup, in the drama.
Without this being an actual biography, one gets good snapshots of Yeltsin, Gorbachev and Kravchuk. My only regret is that there's not a bit more about the Central Asian dynamics, or maybe the Caucasian ones.
On the American side, Plokhy spends somewhat less time. He could have gone another 40-50 pages with some dynamics, but he does note that US attitudes toward keeping the USSR alive were divided within the Bush administration, with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney being most hawkish about a breakup.
With the recent Russian-Ukranian tensions, Plokhy also has ironically good timing, per what I have noted above. For more on Soviet ethnic dynamics, especially in western Ukraine, his Yalta book may be of some additional help.
With a bit more time separation, unlike Gorbachev and other "principals" who have already written away, and academic detachment, but with the connection of Ukranian heritage and being born in the USSR, Plokhy is well-positioned for a book like this.
And he doesn't disappoint.
Much of his focus is on neither Gorbachev but Boris Yeltsin, but on Ukraine's Leonid Kravchuk, as he pivots from being a Ukrainian Communist apparatchik to its leading politician, and pushing for the full break-up of the USSR.
Plokhy also explains the nearly 40 years of Russian-Ukrainian dynamics within higher Soviet ranks, from the start of Khrushchev on. He then ties in Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev as the other key player, after the failure of the August 1991 coup, in the drama.
Without this being an actual biography, one gets good snapshots of Yeltsin, Gorbachev and Kravchuk. My only regret is that there's not a bit more about the Central Asian dynamics, or maybe the Caucasian ones.
On the American side, Plokhy spends somewhat less time. He could have gone another 40-50 pages with some dynamics, but he does note that US attitudes toward keeping the USSR alive were divided within the Bush administration, with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney being most hawkish about a breakup.
With the recent Russian-Ukranian tensions, Plokhy also has ironically good timing, per what I have noted above. For more on Soviet ethnic dynamics, especially in western Ukraine, his Yalta book may be of some additional help.
ramn's review
5.0
The Last Empire is an enthralling look back at the time of the Soviet Union in the final days before the collapse. It is definitely not a light read and can at times go into very minute details regarding different items. This however is always done to ensure the reader is able to understand the situation. Overall if history is something that you enjoy I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for history around the time of the collapse.
bluehairedlesbian's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Plokhy takes you back to 1991. You are taken into these rooms of these key decisions and how these characters thought using memoirs and interviews. The book focuses on the actual factors that to the collaboration of the Union mentioning key factors that led to the independence vote of in Ukraine. This book scraps the American view of winning the cold war due to the collapse of the USSR and focuses on how Ukraine, Gorbachev and Yeltsin were key actors in the Eastern political field throughout the decline of the union.
Plokhy is an incredible author who tells the story by gripping you into every page. This book was an incredible read! I recommend it to anyone
Plokhy is an incredible author who tells the story by gripping you into every page. This book was an incredible read! I recommend it to anyone
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