Checkmate in Berlin : the Cold War showdown that shaped the modern world
Giles Milton
A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union--showing how Gorbachev's misguided reforms led to its demise. In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four-million strong, five-thousand nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism.