Collapse

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union-showing how Gorbachev's misguided reforms led to its demise "A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart."-Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times "[A] masterly analysis."-Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev's misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances-and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

From the author of Guns, Germs and Steel , Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive is a visionary study of the mysterious downfall of past civilizations. Now in a revised edition with a new afterword, Jared Diamond's Collapse uncovers the secret behind why some societies flourish, while others founder - and what this means for our future. What happened to the people who made the forlorn long-abandoned statues of Easter Island? What happened to the architects of the crumbling Maya pyramids? Will we go the same way, our skyscrapers one day standing derelict and overgrown like the temples at Angkor Wat? Bringing together new evidence from a startling range of sources and piecing together the myriad influences, from climate to culture, that make societies self-destruct, Jared Diamond's Collapse also shows how - unlike our ancestors - we can benefit from our knowledge of the past and learn to be survivors. 'A grand sweep from a master storyteller of the human race' - Daily Mail 'Riveting, superb, terrifying' - Observer 'Gripping ... the book fulfils its huge ambition, and Diamond is the only man who could have written it' - Economis 'This book shines like all Diamond's work' - Sunday Times

I often hated my brother, but I have to understand his life. The unflinching story of Édouard Louis’s brother’s violent life and death. ‘One of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation’ GUARDIAN ‘Bracing, pulverising... burns with white-hot truth’ COLIN WALSH Édouard’s brother spends much of his life dreaming. He lives in a poor, working-class world, where he imagines that he will become one of the finest butchers in France, that he will travel, that he will make his fortune, that he will restore cathedrals, that he will earn his father’s love. But his reality allows none of this. There is no way to escape, no one who can show him how, and everything about him – his drinking, his violence, his behaviour with women and with others – condemns him. At thirty-eight he is found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. Translated by TASH AW ‘Louis has never been tenderer, more sophisticated, or more fully on form’ NAOISE DOLAN ‘Spare, raw... Édouard Louis is someone who makes writing matter’ NEIL BARTLETT ‘Belongs to that vital group of writers, amongst the likes of Cusk, Rankine and Ernaux, who have revitalised and reinvented their own form’ ANDREW McMILLAN Praise for Édouard Louis ‘I feel so lucky to be living and writing at the same time as Édouard Louis’ MAGGIE NELSON ‘One of the major writers of our time’ GARTH GREENWELL ‘Louis is a master of the poetics of juxtaposition, elucidating the hostile and the intimate... the vulnerable and the resilient’ YIYUN LI

From the author of Guns, Germs and Steel , Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive is a visionary study of the mysterious downfall of past civilizations. Now in a revised edition with a new afterword, Jared Diamond's Collapse uncovers the secret behind why some societies flourish, while others founder - and what this means for our future. What happened to the people who made the forlorn long-abandoned statues of Easter Island? What happened to the architects of the crumbling Maya pyramids? Will we go the same way, our skyscrapers one day standing derelict and overgrown like the temples at Angkor Wat? Bringing together new evidence from a startling range of sources and piecing together the myriad influences, from climate to culture, that make societies self-destruct, Jared Diamond's Collapse also shows how - unlike our ancestors - we can benefit from our knowledge of the past and learn to be survivors. 'A grand sweep from a master storyteller of the human race' - Daily Mail 'Riveting, superb, terrifying' - Observer 'Gripping ... the book fulfils its huge ambition, and Diamond is the only man who could have written it' - Economis 'This book shines like all Diamond's work' - Sunday Times

I often hated my brother, but I have to understand his life. The unflinching story of Édouard Louis’s brother’s violent life and death. ‘One of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation’ GUARDIAN ‘Bracing, pulverising... burns with white-hot truth’ COLIN WALSH Édouard’s brother spends much of his life dreaming. He lives in a poor, working-class world, where he imagines that he will become one of the finest butchers in France, that he will travel, that he will make his fortune, that he will restore cathedrals, that he will earn his father’s love. But his reality allows none of this. There is no way to escape, no one who can show him how, and everything about him – his drinking, his violence, his behaviour with women and with others – condemns him. At thirty-eight he is found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. Translated by TASH AW ‘Louis has never been tenderer, more sophisticated, or more fully on form’ NAOISE DOLAN ‘Spare, raw... Édouard Louis is someone who makes writing matter’ NEIL BARTLETT ‘Belongs to that vital group of writers, amongst the likes of Cusk, Rankine and Ernaux, who have revitalised and reinvented their own form’ ANDREW McMILLAN Praise for Édouard Louis ‘I feel so lucky to be living and writing at the same time as Édouard Louis’ MAGGIE NELSON ‘One of the major writers of our time’ GARTH GREENWELL ‘Louis is a master of the poetics of juxtaposition, elucidating the hostile and the intimate... the vulnerable and the resilient’ YIYUN LI

In Jared Diamond's follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel , the author explores how climate change, the population explosion and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization Environmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some found solutions and persisted. As in Guns, Germs, and Steel , Diamond traces the fundamental pattern of catastrophe, and weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of fascinating historical-cultural narratives. Collapse moves from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti, even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana. Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide?

In Jared Diamond's follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel , the author explores how climate change, the population explosion and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization Environmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some found solutions and persisted. As in Guns, Germs, and Steel , Diamond traces the fundamental pattern of catastrophe, and weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of fascinating historical-cultural narratives. Collapse moves from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti, even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana. Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide?

From "one of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation" ( The Guardian ), an unflinching account of ?douard Louis's brother's life and death. ?douard's brother spent much of his life dreaming. He lived in a poor, working-class world, where he imagined that he would become one of the finest butchers in France, that he would travel, that he would make his fortune, that he would restore cathedrals, and that his father, who had disappeared, would return and love him. But there was no way to escape, no one who could show him how, and everything about him--his drinking, his violence, his behavior with women and with others--condemned him. At thirty-eight, after years of failure and depression, he was found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. ?douard Louis traces the life of a man who was in many ways deplorable: violent, misogynistic, homophobic, brutal. But where might understanding begin, and how far can it extend? In Collapse , Louis pursues every angle for answers--newly consulting writers and psychoanalysts and questioning his siblings, his mother, his brother's partners, and himself. From an outpouring of memory and pain comes a radical gesture of dignity and forgiveness.

From "one of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation" ( The Guardian ), an unflinching account of ?douard Louis's brother's life and death. ?douard's brother spent much of his life dreaming. He lived in a poor, working-class world, where he imagined that he would become one of the finest butchers in France, that he would travel, that he would make his fortune, that he would restore cathedrals, and that his father, who had disappeared, would return and love him. But there was no way to escape, no one who could show him how, and everything about him--his drinking, his violence, his behavior with women and with others--condemned him. At thirty-eight, after years of failure and depression, he was found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. ?douard Louis traces the life of a man who was in many ways deplorable: violent, misogynistic, homophobic, brutal. But where might understanding begin, and how far can it extend? In Collapse , Louis pursues every angle for answers--newly consulting writers and psychoanalysts and questioning his siblings, his mother, his brother's partners, and himself. From an outpouring of memory and pain comes a radical gesture of dignity and forgiveness.

The first volume of a ground-breaking and truly global trilogy on the Second World War, from an exciting, prize-winning academic. 'Fennell marshals a host of original insights and judgements in a narrative of terrific verve... Superb' Max Hastings, Sunday Times Between 1931 and 1949, a series of crises threatened world order and the very functioning of states, as well as destroying or changing millions of ordinary people’s lives. At the heart of these upheavals was an all-encompassing war that was a watershed moment in modern history. Collapse tells the story of the first part of this "Greater Second World War,” from 1931-1941, weaving multiple international trends, theatres of war and home fronts into a single, compelling global narrative. It shows from all sides what influenced the key campaigns, and the great shifts in power and society that accompanied them. Combining brand new sources in 14 languages from over 50 archives around the world, and a highly original approach that explores the personal alongside the political, Professor Jonathan Fennell shows in vivid colour how a world that many considered civilised collapsed into barbarity. By using immersive storytelling and a cast of characters from well-known political and literary figures to everyday citizens around the world – including not only “bands of brothers” but also less well-known “sisters in arms” and “war-woven lovers” – he explores what it really meant to live through this violent upheaval. This is a landmark work from an outstanding historian that transforms our understanding of this monumental conflict. 'Impressively global . . . his judgement is impeccable and his eye for a telling personal story unerring . . . a weighty achievement which will have readers clearing space on their bookshelves for parts II and III' Christopher Harding, Spectator

The first volume of a ground-breaking and truly global trilogy on the Second World War, from an exciting, prize-winning academic. 'Fennell marshals a host of original insights and judgements in a narrative of terrific verve... Superb' Max Hastings, Sunday Times Between 1931 and 1949, a series of crises threatened world order and the very functioning of states, as well as destroying or changing millions of ordinary people’s lives. At the heart of these upheavals was an all-encompassing war that was a watershed moment in modern history. Collapse tells the story of the first part of this "Greater Second World War,” from 1931-1941, weaving multiple international trends, theatres of war and home fronts into a single, compelling global narrative. It shows from all sides what influenced the key campaigns, and the great shifts in power and society that accompanied them. Combining brand new sources in 14 languages from over 50 archives around the world, and a highly original approach that explores the personal alongside the political, Professor Jonathan Fennell shows in vivid colour how a world that many considered civilised collapsed into barbarity. By using immersive storytelling and a cast of characters from well-known political and literary figures to everyday citizens around the world – including not only “bands of brothers” but also less well-known “sisters in arms” and “war-woven lovers” – he explores what it really meant to live through this violent upheaval. This is a landmark work from an outstanding historian that transforms our understanding of this monumental conflict. 'Impressively global . . . his judgement is impeccable and his eye for a telling personal story unerring . . . a weighty achievement which will have readers clearing space on their bookshelves for parts II and III' Christopher Harding, Spectator