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    The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence
    The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence
    The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence
    Audiobook3 hours

    The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence

    Written by Charles River Editors

    Narrated by Colin Fluxman

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Leonid Brezhnev became First Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union in late 1964 after a plot to oust Khrushchev. Little is remembered in the public imagination about Brezhnev in comparison to Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Lenin, or Joseph Stalin, despite the fact Brezhnev ruled the USSR from 1964-1982, longer than any Soviet leader other than Stalin. In fact, he held power during a tumultuous era that changed the world in remarkable ways, and that era has been favorably remembered by many former Soviet citizens. It marked a period of relative calm and even prosperity after the destruction of World War II and the tensions brought about by Khrushchev. Foremost amongst Brezhnev’s achievements would be the détente period in the early 1970s, when the Soviets and Americans came to a number of agreements that reduced Cold War pressures and the alarming threat of nuclear war. 

    The Cold War moved into one of its most dangerous phases after Brezhnev’s death as both sides deployed nuclear weapons within alarming proximity in Europe. A NATO exercise, “Operation Able Archer,” almost led to a Soviet miscalculation, and when the Soviets shot down a South Korean airliner in September 1983, claiming it had strayed into Soviet airspace, the Cold War became very tense indeed.  After going through three elderly leaders in three years, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen as the new General Secretary at the relatively youg age of 54 in March 1985. Gorbachev hoped to build the Soviet economy to relieve the persistent shortages of consumer goods it faced, which were caused by enormous military spending of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev tried to introduce some economic reforms, but they were blocked by communist hardliners. Gorbachev then came to the belief that the Soviet economy could not improved without political reform as well.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles River Editors
    Release dateJul 30, 2019
    ISBN9781094221489
    The Decline of the Soviet Union: The History of the Communist Empire in the Last 30 Years of Its Existence

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    Reviews for The Decline of the Soviet Union

    4/5

    13 ratings4 reviews

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    • 2/5
      What's the deal with the narrator pronouncing Mao's name "Mayo"?
    • 5/5
      It is an Interesting review of this historical period and region
    • 2/5
      This book is a (very) shirt history of the USSR. It has little to do with the fall of the empire specifically.
      It's also tries to explain the history, when for such a short book a mere description of facts would have been preferable.
    • 3/5
      The narrator speed reads through the entire book, hardly taking a breath between sentences, let alone chapters. The content is good, but pick a different book if you’re not already familiar with much on the subject.