The August Coup by Robert Service review – the drink-soaked collapse of the Soviet Union

This brilliant account of attempts by the old guard to take back control captures the ludicrousness of it all beautifully Marxist-Leninist rule in Russia lasted 74 years, and in August 1991 it effectively collapsed in just three days: clear evidence of how hollowed out it had become. In the period that followed, Russia tried parliamentary democracy and unalloyed capitalism, then sank back into autocracy. Now it’s struggling under a wholly unnecessary war against its neighbour and former posse...

By John Simpson