Miller helps readers understand why communism survived in China but encountered an abrupt and amazing collapse in the former Soviet Union. Highly recommended.--Choice



Miller's work goes a great distance in bettering our knowledge and understanding of the politics behind the Soviet economic collapse.--Reviews in History



An important contribution to our understanding of the Sino-Soviet interaction and the forces that led to the demise of the Soviet Union.--The Russian Review



Using new archival material, Miller demonstrates that Gorbachev was always much weaker than many realized.--Survival: Global Politics and Strategy



This book is clearly written and forcefully argued.--Slavic Review



It is a well-researched, fluidly written, and timely book that is sure to leave its mark on the historiography.--H-Diplo



Miller brings together politics, ideology, and, most importantly, economics to explain one of the most dramatic and consequential developments in recent history--the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of China. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in not only the history of the Cold War, but also the future of the world that awaits us.--Serhii Plokhii, author of The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union



The Soviet collapse was the unexpected denouement of the 'short 20th century,' but Miller shows that it was not something willed by Mikhail Gorbachev alone. Rather, the powerful vested interests that resisted fiscal reform--the military and the KGB, the collective farm lobby, and the energy industry--were the real causes of the Russian Katastrophe. This is a meticulous autopsy on homo sovieticus.--Niall Ferguson, author of The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West



While there are plenty of works on Gorbachev and perestroika, none tackle the intellectual and political debates surrounding economic reform the way Miller does in this book. Miller's innovative outlook shows us how the history of reform in the late USSR is entangled with the broader story of contemporary economic transformation in China and beyond.--Artemy M. Kalinovsky, University of Amsterdam



We should be grateful to Miller for providing this account on the factors behind the great divergence of Russian and Chinese economic performance. It is a subject about which we know much too little.--Paul R. Gregory, Stanford University

Chris Miller is assistant professor of international history at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and co-director of the school's Russia and Eurasia Program. He is also Eurasia Director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.