John Dunlop,

The Rise of Russia and the Fall of the Soviet Empire (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993). Dunlop makes a strong case that the plotters had reason to believe Gorbachev could be convinced to side with them. Somewhat academic in its style but still compelling .

Victoria Bonnell, Ann Cooper, and Gregory Freidin, eds.,

Russia at the Barricades (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1994). A collection of documents, interviews, and eyewitness accounts of the coup .

Valery Boldin,

Ten Years That Shook the World (New York: Basic Books, 1994). A venomous and vindictive portrait of Gorbachev, written by his chief of staff while he awaited trial for his part in the coup .

Boris Yeltsin,

The Struggle for Russia (New York: Times Books, 1994). Disorganized and sometimes disingenuous, but entertaining and informative. Yeltsin has little good to say about his archrival, though he stops short of accusing Gorbachev of planning or approving the coup. Instead Yeltsin concludes, somewhat ambiguously, that Gorbachev was its “chief catalyst.” As for the revisionist attacks on Yeltsin’s own role in the coup, he admits he had a telephone conversation with Kryuchkov during which the KGB chief told him the emergency committee would not use military force. But Yeltsin adds that there were good reasons not to believe him .

Jack Matlock,

Autopsy on an Empire (New York: Random House, 1995). Matlock, who was the U.S. ambassador to Moscow under Reagan and Bush, provides a firsthand account of the Soviet collapse. Unlike the works of most diplomats, Matlock’s is not just a valuable historical document but also a valuable work of history .

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