The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The History of the USSR Under Mikhail Gorbachev

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...