Moscow, December 25, 1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union (PublicAffairs), by Conor O'Clery

Somehow the commanding heights of history clearly emerge from the forest of small facts in Conor O'Clery's account of the Soviet Union's demise. The color of Mikhail Gorbachev's favorite tie (and what he ate for lunch while wearing it) fills Moscow, December 25 with profuse journalistic detail, yet the main issue—the rancorous conflict between Gorbachev and his rival, Boris Yeltsin—stands out. As Moscow correspondent for The Irish Times, O'Clery was an eyewitness to the big picture, and like a good reporter he diligently sought sources. The hasty collapse of Gorbachev's regime and the ramshackle rise of Yeltsin's Russia resulted from personality clashes as much as anything. Gorbachev, the urbane and consummate insider, treated the bumptious Yeltsin with contempt and was paid back in full. Their collision against the backdrop of a failing economy and a bankrupt ideology sealed the Soviet Union's demise.