Controversially this book argues that the ruling party-state elite in the USSR itself moved to dismantle the old system. Topics discussed include: * the beginnings of economic decline in 1975 * Gorbachev's efforts to democratize and decentralize * the complex political battle through which the coalition favouring capitalism took power * the flaws in economic policies intended to rapidly build capitalism * the surprising resurgence of Communism. Research includes interviews with over 50 former Soviet government and Communist party leaders, policy advisors, new private businessmen, trade union leaders and intellectuals. ...one of the best books yet to appear about what has happened in the former Soviet Union in this last tragic decade.... It is a good book because it is based on a careful, scholarly analysis of a laboriously collected treasury of facts.... This book is an eye-opener for anyone who is tired of the prevailing wisdom about today's Russia. This book gives a new interpretation of the disintegration of the USSR. It challenges the widespread belief that the demise of the old regime was caused by the collapse of the Soviet economy, accompanied by public demand that socialism should be abandoned. David Kotz, Fred Weir