This work is a narrative of the most momentous event in the post-war world - the end of communism and the subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union. Seen, in some aspects, as a battle between good (personified by Sakharer) and evil (in the form of the Communist Party), the author breathes life into Gorbachev and Yeltsin who are seen as Carylean historical figures on a grand scale. The author covers areas of Soviet politics, culture and society in great depth. The book won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction.