Dismantling Utopia How Information Ended the Soviet Union

Hoping to "renew socialism" and save a Communist system in decay, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power determined to lift restrictions on the control of communications and information. What happened next is the subject of Scott Shane's brilliant account in Dismantling Utopia. On the scene in Moscow as correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, he witnessed firsthand how Gorbachev experiment produced a revolution that proved fatal to his party, his government, and his own political career. Shane's compellingly readable story is filled with memorable characters, revealing vignettes, and striking statistics.