Author Information
Stephen Kotkin is a professor of European and Asian history at Princeton University, where he also directs the Program in Russian-Eurasian Studies. He is the author of nine books, including a highly acclaimed two-volume study on the rise and fall of Soviet socialism: Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as Civilization and Steeltown, USSR: Soviet Society in the Gorbachev Era.

Book Description
With extensive revisions of the text, as well as a new introduction and epilogue that bring the book fully up to date with the turbulent politics of the last decade and the long-term effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union, this compact, original, and engaging book provides the definitive account of one of the great historical events of the last fifty years. By combining historical and geopolitical analysis with a compelling narrative, Kotkin draws on extensive research.