Chronicles the collapse of the Soviet empire, from the rise of glasnost through the final lowering of the Soviet flag, to the start of the post-communist age.

Originally published: New York : Random House, 1993. "With a new afterword by the author"--Cover.

By right of memory. The forest coup ; A Stalinist childhood ; To be preserved, forever ; The return of history ; Widows of revolution ; Ninotchka ; The doctors' plot and beyond ; Memorial ; Written on the water --Democratic vistas. Masquerade ; The double thinkers ; Party men ; Poor folk ; The revolution underground ; Postcards from the empire ; The island ; Bread and circuses ; The last gulag -- Revolutionary days. "Tomorrow there will be a battle" ; Lost illusions ; The October Revolution ; May Day! May Day! ; The ministry of love ; Black September ; The tower ; The general line ; Citizens -- "First as tragedy, then as farce" -- The trial of the old regime. By right of memory. The forest coup ; A Stalinist childhood ; To be preserved, forever ; The return of history ; Widows of revolution ; Ninotchka ; The doctors' plot and beyond ; Memorial ; Written on the water -- Democratic vistas. Masquerade ; The double thinkers ; Party men ; Poor folk ; The revolution underground ; Postcards from the empire ; The island ; Bread and circuses ; The last gulag -- Revolutionary days. "Tomorrow there will be a battle" ; Lost illusions ; The October Revolution ; May Day! May Day! ; The ministry of love ; Black September ; The tower ; The general line ; Citizens -- "First as tragedy, then as farce" -- The trial of the old regime.