The Dark Side of the Earth: How the Soviet Union Collapsed but Remained

'TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN . . .' On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union begins its countdown.From the steppes of Kazakhstan, the first human - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin - launches into space. In that moment, another countdown begins. How could it be that a single generation - just three decades - would separate the USSR's crowning achievement from the collapse of the Soviet empire?More than a history lesson, The Dark Side of the Earth is a testament to the enduring fight for truth and freedom.In pursuit of the real story, renowned Kremlin opponent Mikhail Zygar ('one of Russia's smartest and best-sourced young journalists' - New York Times) gathered witness statements of jaw-dropping candour from hundreds of key players: the last first secretaries and first presidents of the post-Soviet republics, the leaders of independence movements, Western politicians and diplomats, and Mikhail Gorbachev himself, not to mention dozens of scientists, authors, film directors, aspiring rockstars and o