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Lead book review

It's not just Putin who misses the Soviet empire. President Bush did, too

A review of The Last Empire: The final days of the Soviet Union, by Serhii Plokhy. Newly unearthed material sheds fresh light on the dying days of the 'Evil Empire'

12 July 2014

9:00 AM

12 July 2014

9:00 AM

The Last Empire: The final days of the Soviet Union Serhii Plokhy

One World, pp.484, £25, ISBN: 9781780745299

Vladimir Putin calls it ‘the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century’, a viewpoint which explains much of his recent behaviour. Few others anywhere in the world, particularly people who live around Russia’s borders, would agree that the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything to lament. From Riga to Tbilisi and from Kiev to Tashkent, Christmas Day 1991, when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR and the Red Flag was lowered from the Kremlin, remains a day to celebrate.

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