Kissing the Corpse

Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000, by Stephen Kotkin (Oxford, 245 pp., $25)

IN 1970 the Soviet Union was in command of swathes of the globe, and motivated by ideology toward further armed conquest. A few short years later, there is only ruin and pollution and demoralization to show for all that power. Communism is a bad memory, and its rapid and all-encompassing collapse raises questions fundamental to our understanding of the times and the societies in which we live.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000, by Stephen Kotkin (Oxford, 245 pp., $25)

IN 1970 the Soviet Union was in command of swathes of the globe, and motivated by ideology toward further armed conquest. A few short years later, there is only ruin and pollution and demoralization to show for all that power. Communism is a bad memory, and its rapid and all-encompassing collapse raises questions fundamental to our understanding of the times and the societies in which we live.