History did not come to an end with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. The distinction is made here between East Central Europe, where the author's conclusions are largely optimistic, and the Balkans, where uncertainty still prevails.
This book tells the dramatic story of the unexpected disintegration of the Soviet Union. He concludes that, the efforts of Mikhail Gorbachev to reform the state he initially controlled, undermined and eventually destroyed the mechanisms that held the non-Russians in check.