Russia at the Barricades: Eyewitness Accounts of the August 1991 Coup

by Victoria E. Bonnell, Ann Cooper, Gregory Freidin

Overview

What does the Congress do? How does it do it? Is the Congress up to the challenges ahead? This primer offers students an introduction to Congress and the role it plays in the US political system. It explores the different political natures of the House and Senate, and examines Congress's interaction with other branches of the Federal government.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317460510
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/04/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Gregory Freidin, Victoria E. Bonnell, Ann Cooper

Table of Contents

Introduction; I: Saving the Old Country; 1: Proclamations and Decrees of the State Committee for the State of Emergency, August 19, 1991; 2: The Press Conference of the State Committee for the State of Emergency, August 19, 1991; 3: Statements and Explanations by the Putschists After the Coup; II: The Public Reacts; 1: To the Barricades; 2: Letter from Moscow; 3: August 19 and 20 in Moscow; 4: Moscow: The Morning of August 21; 5: Moscow's M.V. Khrunichev Machine-Building Factory Reacts to the August Coup; 6: The Congress of Compatriots: Witness to a Democratic Counter-Revolution; 7: A View from Saratov; 8: Letter from St. Petersburg; III: In High Places; 1: What Happened in Foros; 2: Proclamations, Decrees, and Appeals in Response to the Coup, August 19, 1991; 3: Speech to the Russian Parliament, August 21, 1991; 4: Between Russia and the Soviet Union—With Notes on the USSR Council of Ministers Meeting of August 19, 1991; 5: Vladimir Shcherbakov Recounts His Role in the Coup; 6: The Coup and the Armed Forces; 7: From Dushanbe to Moscow; 8: Breakthrough: The Coup in St. Petersburg; 9: Our Children Were on the Barricades; IV: Defending the White House; 1: Reflections from the Barricades; 2: Concerning the Defenders of the White House; 3: Death on the Streets; 4: A Man in the Crowd; 5: On the Barricades; 6: In and Around the White House; V: Getting the News In and Out; 1: Three Days in August: On-the-Spot Impressions; 2: Getting the News on ‘Vremia'; 3: The Foreign Press and the Coup; 4: The August 19 Press Conference; 5: A Russian Reporter Remembers the Coup; Chronology of Events of August 19, 20, 21, 1991

Editorial Reviews

Much of Russian history happens after it is told. Here the August 1991 coup against Gorbachev and his reforms is chronicled, yet the story has already grown: the Russian Parliament pardoned the plotters in February 1994. However, like a 19th-century diary, this edition by two Americans and an expatriate still has much to offer, providing various snapshots from a ``a variety of points of view.'' The accounts are in five sections, covering the coup plotters, some personal stories, a view from the center (Gorbachev, Yeltsin), a captivating look at the defense of the Russian White House, and an assessment of the media's role. For some scholars, this approach may prove lacking; a section on the role of the military would have been helpful. An impressive minute-by-minute chronology is also provided. For academic and larger public libraries.-John Yurechko, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.

Library Journal

Firsthand accounts of the short-lived but immensely significant attempted coup in which eight high-ranking Soviet officials took over the government of the USSR and proclaimed themselves its new rulers. They include testimonies from "junta" members and military officers, resistance leaders and ordinary citizens, Muscovites and residents of other locales, Russian and foreign journalists, foreign visitors and returning emigres, as well as Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Key documents and photographs complement the individual accounts. Paper edition (272-9), $19.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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