Introduction : the model of revolution from above -- The breakdown of institutional and political unity -- The organization of political groups in the party-state and society -- Dual sovereignty from above and the XXVIII CPSU Congress -- The first Soviet pact-making episode -- Gorbachev's turn to the "right" -- Reaction, polarization, and revolutionary crisis politics -- The nascent Soviet transition pact -- The hardline August coup -- The revolutionary seizure of power and the aborted Soviet pact -- Tentative conclusions about Russia and the revolution from above.