Robert Service’s new history, The August Coup: The Destruction of the Soviet Union and the Making of New Russia 1985-1991, focuses on the dramatic final phase of the USSR and the emergence of post-Soviet Russia. The book spans the years from 1985 to 1991 and is presented as a major account of the political upheaval that reshaped the region.
The review highlights the sheer weight of Service’s research, suggesting the book could become a leading study of the period. That emphasis on detail appears early, with the mention of a six-page glossary of Soviet public figures, signaling a work designed to guide readers through a crowded and complex political landscape.
At the same time, the book is described as unusually readable for such a dense historical subject. Rather than feeling dry or overly academic, Service’s narrative is said to move with the tension and momentum of a suspense story, giving added drama to a well-known turning point in modern history.
Taken together, the review presents The August Coup as both serious scholarship and accessible narrative history. For readers looking for a book on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the making of new Russia, it points to a detailed and potentially definitive study of that decisive era.
