{"product_id":"the-last-empire-the-final-days-of-the-soviet-union-9780465046713","title":"The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe\u003ci\u003e New York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Gates of Europe\u003c\/i\u003e offers \"a stirring account of an extraordinary moment\" in Russian history (\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn Christmas Day, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades -- with disastrous consequences for American standing in the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs prize-winning historian Serhii Plokhy reveals in \u003ci\u003eThe Last Empire\u003c\/i\u003e, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the United States. Bush, in fact, was firmly committed to supporting Gorbachev as he attempted to hold together the USSR in the face of growing independence movements in its republics. Drawing on recently declassified documents and original interviews with key participants, Plokhy presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union's final months, providing invaluable insight into the origins of the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the outset of the most dangerous crisis in East-West relations since the end of the Cold War. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Lionel Gelber Prize \u003cbr\u003eWinner of the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize \u003cbr\u003eChoice Outstanding Academic Title \u003cbr\u003eBBC History Magazine Best History Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSerhii Plokhy\u003c\/b\u003e is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. The\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of\u003ci\u003e The Gates of Europe \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNuclear Folly\u003c\/i\u003e, Plokhy is an award-winning author of numerous books. He lives in Burlington, Massachusetts.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50503376273682,"sku":"9780465046713","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a211e109-cb87-4110-928f-95334eab60e7.jpg?v=1730789738","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-last-empire-the-final-days-of-the-soviet-union-9780465046713","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}