{"product_id":"the-dream-that-failed-reflections-on-the-soviet-union-9780195102826","title":"The Dream That Failed: Reflections on the Soviet Union","description":"Walter Laqueur as been hailed as \"one of our most distinguished scholars of modern European history\" in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e. Robert Byrnes, writing in the \u003cem\u003eJournal of Modern History\u003c\/em\u003e, called him \"one of the most remarkable men in the Western world working in the field.\" Over a span of three decades, in books ranging from \u003cem\u003eRussia and Germany\u003c\/em\u003e to the recent \u003cem\u003eBlack Hundred\u003c\/em\u003e, he has won a reputation as a major writer and a provocative thinker. Now he turns his attention to the greatest enigma of our time: the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.\u003cbr\u003e In \u003cem\u003eThe Dream that Failed\u003c\/em\u003e, Laqueur offers an authoritative assessment of the Soviet era--from the triumph of Lenin to the fall of Gorbachev. In the last three years, decades of conventional wisdom about the U.S.S.R. have been swept away, while a flood of evidence from Russian archives demands new thinking about old assumptions. Laqueur rises to the challenge with a critical inquiry conducted on a grand scale. He shows why the Bolsheviks won the struggle for power in 1917; how they captured the commitment of a young generation of Russians; why the idealism faded as Soviet power grew; how the system ultimately collapsed; and why Western experts have been so wrong about the Communist state. Always thoughtful and incisive, Laqueur reflects on the early enthusiasm of foreign observers and Bolshevik revolutionaries--then takes a piercing look at the totalitarian nature of the Soviet Union. We see how Communist society stagnated during the 1960s and '70s, as the economy wobbled to the brink; we also see how Western observers, from academic experts to CIA analysts, made wildly optimistic estimates of Moscow's economic and political strength. Just weeks before the U.S.S.R. disappeared from the earth, scholars were confidently predicting the survival of the Soviet Union. But in underscoring the rot and repression, he also notes that the Communist state did not necessarily have to fall when it did, and he examines the many factors behind the collapse (the pressure from Reagan's Star Wars arms program, for instance, and ethnic nationalism). Some of these same problems, he finds, continue to shape the future of Russia and the other successor states.\u003cbr\u003e Only now, in the rubble of this lost empire, are we coming to grips with just how wrong our assumptions about the U.S.S.R. had been. In \u003cem\u003eThe Dream That Failed\u003c\/em\u003e, an internationally renowned historian provides a new understanding of the Soviet experience, from the rise of Communism to its sudden fall. The result of years of research and reflection, it sheds fresh light on a central episode in our turbulent century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Walter Laquer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/15\/1996\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.48h x 5.50w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195102826\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/26\/1996 pg. 20\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWalter Laqueur\u003c\/strong\u003e as been hailed as \"one of our most distinguished scholars of modern European history\" (\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e), and \"one of the most remarkable men in the Western world working in the field,\"(\u003cem\u003eJournal of Modern History\u003c\/em\u003e). His most recent study of the Russian extreme right was described as \"a model to study Russia\" (\u003cem\u003eAmerican Historical Review\u003c\/em\u003e). Walter Laqueur was for twenty-five years the director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London. He is editor of the \u003cem\u003eJournal of Contemporary History\u003c\/em\u003e and serves as chairman of the International Research Council at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. His books, which have been translated into many languagues, include \u003cem\u003eBlack Hundred\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRussia and Germany\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Long Road to Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Fate of the Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTerrorism\u003c\/em\u003e, and most recently an autobiography, \u003cem\u003eThursday's Child has Far to Go\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45108124287091,"sku":"9780195102826","price":82.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_ba3249b4-6f11-440d-9751-50e7e50a149c.jpg?v=1781611065","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/the-dream-that-failed-reflections-on-the-soviet-union-9780195102826","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}