Why did the Soviet Union collapse in 1991?The collapse of the Soviet Union has widely been seen as the result of the arms race and Cold War, and the failure of the Soviet side to keep pace with new technology. This book argues that the disintegration was mainly a result of two interrelated factors: the rise of the Soviet national republics, and the manipulation of the new Russian presidency by Boris Yeltsin in what became a direct power struggle between Yeltsin and the Soviet leade...

Only several years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, nuclear security issues are again at the forefront of international concern. This timely collection addresses issues of cleanup at Chernobyl and other sites of nuclear disasters, nuclear smuggling, safety concerns in the Ukrainian and Russian nuclear industries, and Ukraine’s negotiations with Russia and the West regarding the transference of its nuclear weapons to Russia. Preeminent scholars in their fields, the contributors provi...

This study examines one of the key events in history, the Russian Revolution. Since the late Gorbachev period, a wealth of new material has become available to historians that has triggered intense scholarly debate on the nature of revolution. This timely new book takes account of the new scholarship, including - for example - the role of Lenin. It is argued that the intial flexibility of Lenin and the Bolshevik party allowed them to take power, but that the conduct of both changed conside...

The history of Russia, as the natural successor to the Soviet Union, is of crucial importance to understanding why communism ultimately lost out to Western democracy and the free market system. David Marples presents a balanced overview of 20th century Russian history and shows that although contemporary Russia has retained many of the practices and memories of the Soviet period, it is not about to revert back to the Soviet example.

Motherland tells the dramatic story of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. From Lenin's virtual coup in November 1917 to Boris Yeltsin's ruthless takeover of power in 1991, the book culminates with a new view of the Yeltsin years.David Marples focuses on the evolution of Russia during the Soviet period, and the attempt to harness Russian nationalism to the avowed Soviet mission of promoting World Communism. Along the way heanalyses some of the more intensive historical ...

Recent events have thrust Belarus into the international spotlight, but for years after declaring independence in 1991, Belarus remained a little-known republic in the West, despite its important geostrategic position between Poland and Russia, and as a conduit for Russian energy supplies to central Europe. In the late Soviet period, it was best known as a victim of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, which covered its territory in dangerous radionuclides of cesium, strontium, and iodi...

The figure of Stalin continues to intrigue, fascinate, and repel historians into the 21st century, while in the Russian Federation, he has returned to the status of a figure to be respected, principally as the leader who led his country through industrialization and militarization, enabling it to defeat Nazi Germany in the Second World War, thereby saving Europe and much of the world from the "brown plague" of Fascism. He presided over some of the most cataclysmic events of the 20th centur...

This biography examines the life and career of the conservative politician who led the charge to reshape British Railways in the mid-twentieth century.Ernest Marples was one of the most influential and controversial British politicians of the mid-twentieth century. As the Minister of Transport (1959–1964) he appointed Dr. Beeching chairman of British Railways and commissioned him to produce his infamous "Beeching Report". Earlier, as Postmaster General (1957–1959),...

The History Boys Part Two celebrates more iconic goals in the illustrious history of Nottingham Forest. Starting in 1880 with Sam Widdowson and ending with the remarkable 2024/25 season, it tells the stories behind the famous goals and some of the more unusual and overlooked efforts. All types of goals are here. Those remarkable strikes from distance that blew our minds. The ones shrouded in controversy. Some secured titles or promotions, others ensured survival. The late ones, th...

In any assessment and understanding of Belarus, the key questions to address include; why has Belarus apparently rejected independence under its first president Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and sought a union with Russia? Why has the government rejected democracy, infringed on the human rights of its citizens and fundamentally altered its constitution in favour of presidential authority? Has the country made any progress toward market reforms? How have Russia and the West responded to the action...

Multicast narration featuring Hugh Fraser, Joan Hickson, David Suchet, and moreHercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Christie’s wildly unconventional investigator, Parker Pyne, all make appearances in The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories—a riveting collection of short stories featuring a host of murderous crimes of passion, pleasure, and profit.There's a body in a trunk; a dead girl's reflection is caught in a mirror; and one corpse is...

Reds and Rams: A Story of the East Midlands Derby is the tale of one of the most fiercely fought football rivalries in the world. Hewed from the Victorian industrial revolution, Nottingham Forest and Derby County have contested league games for 130 years. Ever since the 1898 FA Cup Final, the rivalry has ebbed and flowed, with each club enjoying both periods of sustained success and existential threat. The reasons for this deep-rooted antipathy are numerous, yet ultimately it boil...