Moscow, December 25th, 1991 by Conor O'Clery

Mikhail Gorbachev, a sophisticated and urbane reformer, sought to modernize and preserve the USSR Boris Yeltsin, a coarse and a hard drinking 'bulldozer,' wished to destroy the union and create a capitalist Russia. Conor O'Clery has written a truly suspenseful thriller of the Cold War's final act: the internal power plays, the shifting alliances, the betrayals, the mysterious three colonels carrying the briefcase with the nuclear codes, and the jockeying to exploit the future.The implosion of the Soviet Union was the culmination of a gripping game played out between two men who intensely disliked each other and had different concepts for the future. But it took four months of intrigue and double-dealing before Yeltsin could hustle Gorbachev out of the Kremlin. The defeat of the August 1991 coup attempt by hardline communists shook Gorbachev's authority and was a triumph for Yeltsin.

The implosion of the Soviet Union was the culmination of a gripping game played out between two men who intensely disliked each other and had different concepts for the future. Publication date 2011 Topics Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931-, Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, 1931-2007, Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931-, Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, 1931-2007, Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931-, Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, 1931-2007, Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931-, Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, 1931-2007, Sovetskaja Associacija Meždunarodnogo Prava, Politics and government, Social conditions, Zusammenbruch, Moscow (Russia) - History - 20th century, Soviet Union - History - 1985-1991, Soviet Union - Politics and government - 1985-1991, Moscow (Russia) - Politics and government - 20th century, Moscow (Russia) - Social conditions - 20th century, Moscow (Russia) - Biography, Russia (Federation) - Moscow, Soviet Union, Moscow (Russia) - History - 20th century, Russia - History - 1985-1991, Russia - Politics and government, Moscow (Russia) - Politics and government, Moscow (Russia) - Social conditions, Moscow (Russia) - Biography, Moscow (Russia) - History - 20th century, Soviet Union - History - 1985-1991, Soviet Union - Politics and government - 1985-1991, Moscow (Russia) - Politics and government - 20th century, Moscow (Russia) - Social conditions - 20th century, Moscow (Russia) - Biography Publisher New York : PublicAffairs Collection inlibrary printdisabled internetarchivebooks china Digitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation Contributor Internet Archive Language English Title (alternate script) None Author (alternate script) None

Moscow, December 25th, 1991 by Conor O'Clery