Plokhy, Serhii - The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union

As prize-winning historian Serhii Plokhy reveals in The Last Empire, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the United States. On the contrary, American leaders dreaded the possibility that the Soviet Union—weakened by infighting and economic turmoil—might suddenly crumble, throwing all of Eurasia into chaos. Bush was firmly committed to supporting his ally and personal friend Gorbachev, and remained wary of nationalist or radical leaders such as recently elected Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Read more...

Serhii Plokhy Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History   Research interests include the intellectual, cultural, and international history of Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Ukraine. Teaches courses and seminars on early modern and modern East European history that engage major problems in the history of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania. Read more...