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The August Coup: The Truth and the Lessons
The former leader of the former Soviet Union offers an account of the attempted coup of 1991, describing what transpired during his three days of house arrest and providing an evaluation of his mistakes and oversights as leader. Reprint.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
245 books71 followersMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Russian politician. He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991.
Gorbachev's attempts at reform—perestroika and glasnost—as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan, contributed to the end of the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. At the time of his death Gorbachev served as the leader of the Union of Social-Democrats, a political party founded after the official dissolution of the Social Democratic Party of Russia on 20 October 2007.
Gorbachev's attempts at reform—perestroika and glasnost—as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan, contributed to the end of the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. At the time of his death Gorbachev served as the leader of the Union of Social-Democrats, a political party founded after the official dissolution of the Social Democratic Party of Russia on 20 October 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 3, 2021
A short account about the end of the Soviet Union written by Mikhail Gorbachev. Interesting points and reflections on the political climate of the time of writing. Recommended for anyone into Soviet/Russian studies. Thanks!
September 3, 2017
I'm hovering between 3 and 4 stars, mainly because at this point this is just a historical document. It is an accounting of Gorbachev's experiences and after thoughts right after the failed August coup d'etat.
The last section, appendix 3 was very moving. It was written before the coup attempt. It was the proposition for the Union to democratize, and not to fall into the ways of the past. Socialist goals and democracy are the only way, essentially.
Sadly it doesn't look like Russia will become the Russia Gorbachev sought it to become, not any time too soon. But you never know. People have had a taste of perestroika and glasnost, of freedom and liberty, if only a taste, and this memory won't pass quickly.
The last section, appendix 3 was very moving. It was written before the coup attempt. It was the proposition for the Union to democratize, and not to fall into the ways of the past. Socialist goals and democracy are the only way, essentially.
Sadly it doesn't look like Russia will become the Russia Gorbachev sought it to become, not any time too soon. But you never know. People have had a taste of perestroika and glasnost, of freedom and liberty, if only a taste, and this memory won't pass quickly.
March 22, 2015
A little hard to follow who the players are since it's so hastily written and I wasn't familiar with all of them. On the other hand, it's slapped-togetherness gives it a crisis feel, like somehow his world was ending, which it was. A great snapshot of the thinking of a world leader at a critical moment in history.
September 13, 2017
Short and fairly interesting account of the August Coup from the man at the centre of it. This book is essentially a primary historical document now, for all that it only covers a few days in the history of a nation. I'm not greatly familiar with Russian history, but it's fairly easy to get the gist of what's going on here. The main point of interest is the sheer idealism with which Gorbachev appears to think of his country's shift in focus. I'm not sure that ever became reality, but this account serves as a reminder of how idealism can motivate change if nothing else.
February 4, 2017
This was a fascinating version of a specific historical moment. The whole thing is an important document, if not a reliable or unbiased one. I found the work very refreshing, even if rushed out in a panic, and enjoyed the read. I think anyone hoping to understand Russia should read this book as a supplement.
April 2, 2020
Прочитала на одном дыхании, детально изложен и ход событий, и мысли Горбачева именно в тот момент. Думаю тогда его позиция реформ была слишком прогрессивная, не с чем было сравнивать.
May 3, 2022
Long on hope and goals, thin on concrete policy and procedure: the pre-appendices text is only 90 pages. Still, Gorby wrote like very few Russians speak, or probably even dare to dream, today. But this, "he gave socialism a human face"?.....It had one with Bernstein, Jaures, and De Leon.
I do like how he craps on Stalin. Putin seems to like Stalin.
Page 66: "The great Eurasian democracy will become one of the bulwarks of the new world, of its security, and its rapprochement of two continents in building a just world order."
Page 84: "The crushing of the attempted coup and the results of the Congress ought to remove all doubts on the part of foreign states concerning the nature of the further development of our country."
And then the Russian populace elected Putin in 1999/2000, grasping back their desire to be oppressed. And our own unique Americans, those bigoted, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, Trad cath, and Fundie Prots with their golden-calf-adoration of Trump, have signed this country's death warrant, too. Of course, Jole Osteen doesn't have the cool headgear of Russia's Archbishop Kiril.....The American version of a "The January Coup" was NEARLY written by Trumptians, with themselves as the holy winners.
I can't wait for the breakup of the US, the secession of the south. I hope the Treasury IMMEDIATELY stops all social security payments and veteran pensions to all addresses south of the Mason-Dixon. I wonder how my co-worker that told me "Putin is a CHRISTIAN!" is gonna like that.
I do like how he craps on Stalin. Putin seems to like Stalin.
Page 66: "The great Eurasian democracy will become one of the bulwarks of the new world, of its security, and its rapprochement of two continents in building a just world order."
Page 84: "The crushing of the attempted coup and the results of the Congress ought to remove all doubts on the part of foreign states concerning the nature of the further development of our country."
And then the Russian populace elected Putin in 1999/2000, grasping back their desire to be oppressed. And our own unique Americans, those bigoted, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, Trad cath, and Fundie Prots with their golden-calf-adoration of Trump, have signed this country's death warrant, too. Of course, Jole Osteen doesn't have the cool headgear of Russia's Archbishop Kiril.....The American version of a "The January Coup" was NEARLY written by Trumptians, with themselves as the holy winners.
I can't wait for the breakup of the US, the secession of the south. I hope the Treasury IMMEDIATELY stops all social security payments and veteran pensions to all addresses south of the Mason-Dixon. I wonder how my co-worker that told me "Putin is a CHRISTIAN!" is gonna like that.
July 26, 2020
Ninety pages of absolute nothingness. I understand that general terms, i.e., pushes, changes, reactionaries, must change, democracy, are what Communists use in talking (their meetings, conventions, congresses must be SO boring) and that all actual work is done in private, as stakeholders argue for their shares, threatening, trading, extorting or putting guns to each other's heads, but this is 90 pages of purely nothing revealed, no actual terms of changes discussed.
Perhaps a better understanding of the roles of the different Potemkin councils would be informative to what Gorby was meandering about in this mish-mash, but again, as all their councils and congresses and groups are simply for show, this book is filled with nothing detailing conditions leading up to, or actual reasons for failure of the attempted August coup, or a narrative of events and stages to the final capitulation of the USSR and the Communist Party.
I guess Gorby probably has boxes of this wasted paper and ink stacked around his house, as it is not worth the materials on which it is printed. Move on, don't bother with this; outside of his whitewashed account of the day when his phones were cut off, and they determined to live for two days on the food larder of his bodyguard unit, there are no who, what, when, whys or hows covered in this book.
Perhaps a better understanding of the roles of the different Potemkin councils would be informative to what Gorby was meandering about in this mish-mash, but again, as all their councils and congresses and groups are simply for show, this book is filled with nothing detailing conditions leading up to, or actual reasons for failure of the attempted August coup, or a narrative of events and stages to the final capitulation of the USSR and the Communist Party.
I guess Gorby probably has boxes of this wasted paper and ink stacked around his house, as it is not worth the materials on which it is printed. Move on, don't bother with this; outside of his whitewashed account of the day when his phones were cut off, and they determined to live for two days on the food larder of his bodyguard unit, there are no who, what, when, whys or hows covered in this book.
August 29, 2025
About what you'd expect. Gorbachev tells the story of the August coup attempt against him and the people with him trying to set up a democratic government. He does a pretty good job of describing what kind of obstacles they faced in doing this without going into minute detail. It was a lot bigger job that most people probably understood. So many things were involved, from things like garbage collection to military service to mail service to private ownership of property.
He tells how those who wanted to keep the communist order in control tried to manipulate the population with misinformation, especially by controlling the media. The actions they took in trying to discredit the new government and maintain control of civil and military assets.
It is worth noting that he speaks multiple times about not going after everyone that did not actively agree with the move toward democracy, or who supported those against it. He states that retaliation was not the right thing to do and had no place in the new government.
I am sure he has made himself look as good as he can, but as far as I can tell without serious egotism.
All in all a very interesting read about a truly historic moment for the countries that made up the USSR, for Europe and the world.
He tells how those who wanted to keep the communist order in control tried to manipulate the population with misinformation, especially by controlling the media. The actions they took in trying to discredit the new government and maintain control of civil and military assets.
It is worth noting that he speaks multiple times about not going after everyone that did not actively agree with the move toward democracy, or who supported those against it. He states that retaliation was not the right thing to do and had no place in the new government.
I am sure he has made himself look as good as he can, but as far as I can tell without serious egotism.
All in all a very interesting read about a truly historic moment for the countries that made up the USSR, for Europe and the world.
May 7, 2020
Un libro muy interesante, sin duda. Habla sobre como ocurrió el intento de golpe de estado y nos narra muy bien cual es el pensamiento de los distintos grupos de poder rusos. Creo que después de leer este libro, entiendo por que un personaje como Vladimir Putin puede perpetuarse en el poder, y la gente lo apoya.
December 5, 2022
A contemporary account of the days surrounding the attempted coup in the Soviet Union in 1991.
Appendix C shows the vision that President Gorbachev had for the future of the Soviet Union which the plot detailed.
Appendix C shows the vision that President Gorbachev had for the future of the Soviet Union which the plot detailed.
October 20, 2024
Ik had gehoopt dat ik wat meer zou kunnen begrijpen van de geschiedenis van Rusland maar ik merk dat het complexer in elkaar zit dan gedacht. Zoveel partijen, congressen, overheden, raden. Ik zie door de bomen het bos niet. Ik ga op zoek naar andere bronnen om eea te kunnen doorgronden
March 21, 2020
Read the first quarter and last quarter. Skip the rest.
July 3, 2022
This book has so much relevance. The parallels to January 6th are downright scary.
July 9, 2022
Great if you want to learn more about Gorbachev and the end of the Soviet Union.
June 4, 2025
My boy Mikhail straight up fibbing in this one
March 19, 2025
Quick read. Look likes it was quickly published after the coup when Gorbachov still believedthe Union Treaty could have worked.
August 21, 2015
Gorbachev briefly discusses the events of the attempted coup in the former Soviet Union by hard-line communists in August 1991. Pushed to the breaking point by an arms race with the US initiated by President Reagan in the 1980's, the Soviet economy was crumbling, and when Gorbachev was made General Secretary in 1985 he began instituting social and economic reforms known as glasnost and perestroika which caused even more national instability. I was surprised to find that the book had been published a mere month later. I jokingly commented to a friend that it was the sign of a good capitalist to write and publish a book so quickly after the event. But I was wrong in assuming the book was simply Gorbachev trying to capitalize on his side of the story and events.
In fact, I was disappointed to find that very little is discussed of the events of the attempted coup. Instead this is Gorbachev's attempt to tell his nation and the world what he was trying to do and the challenges they faced. It kind of has a feeling of desperation and he openly worries that the coup has exposed divisions among the various republics that made up the USSR and fears that the Union might dissolve (which soon became a reality). He also tries to put to rest some of the rumors which spread from the event and his plans and ideas for how the problems it created should be dealt with. As such, it is not a history but a brief snapshot of his plans, and interesting in that regard even if it is a bit self-serving. For those of us who grew up in the 80's when the Soviet Union represented the specter of possible nuclear war, it's an insight into the attempts to transition it to a free market economy by a man more celebrated and appreciated in the West than in his own country.
In fact, I was disappointed to find that very little is discussed of the events of the attempted coup. Instead this is Gorbachev's attempt to tell his nation and the world what he was trying to do and the challenges they faced. It kind of has a feeling of desperation and he openly worries that the coup has exposed divisions among the various republics that made up the USSR and fears that the Union might dissolve (which soon became a reality). He also tries to put to rest some of the rumors which spread from the event and his plans and ideas for how the problems it created should be dealt with. As such, it is not a history but a brief snapshot of his plans, and interesting in that regard even if it is a bit self-serving. For those of us who grew up in the 80's when the Soviet Union represented the specter of possible nuclear war, it's an insight into the attempts to transition it to a free market economy by a man more celebrated and appreciated in the West than in his own country.
October 30, 2014
Mi aspettavo decisamente un altro libro...piu che del golpe mi è parsa una breve biografia sulle idee e sulle speranze che voleva e sperava di portare in URSS per la sua rinascita postcomunista....ma come al solito...troppe teste e troppi interessi in gioco perchè funzionasse bene fuori dalla carta.
February 21, 2013
A first hand account of Mikhail Gorbachev's blockade at his dacha in Foros during the August Coup of 1991. A pivotal point in modern Russian history, the failed coup's provocations and conclusions are detailed in this book, written a month after the coup and prior to the fall of the Soviet Union.
September 4, 2014
A great primary source for seeing how Gorbachev interpreted the events of the coup as they were unfolding.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews