Serhii Plokhy examines the final months of the Soviet Union, challenging narratives that present its dissolution as inevitable or as a triumph of Western policy. Drawing on newly available documents and extensive interviews, Plokhy shows that as late as August 1991, most participants expected the USSR to survive in some form. He traces the complex interactions among Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, George H.W. Bush, and the leaders of Soviet republics, showing how their decisions shaped an outcome that none of them had intended. The book pays particular attention to Ukraine, whose December 1991 independence referendum made the Soviet Union's dissolution irreversible. Plokhy examines the American response, showing how the Bush administration's initial preference for Soviet stability gave way to acceptance of new realities. He challenges the triumphalist interpretation that presents the Soviet collapse as an American victory, showing how American officials struggled to understand events they could not control. The book provides essential context for understanding post-Soviet developments, including the grievances that shaped Russian policy in subsequent decades. Readers will find here a detailed reconstruction of a pivotal historical moment that continues to shape contemporary geopolitics.