A unique, day-by-day chronology of important events and trends related to the USSR, this reference annual draws from a wide variety of sources, including Soviet and international media reports. The volume’s comprehensive indexes to persons and places provide easy access to specific information being sought. Entries are brief but substantial, providing the context necessary in order to understand current developments.

This last volume in the annual series chronicles the developments that led up to the abortive August coup, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The book is arranged as a day-by-day chronology with boldface headlines identifying individual topics. Among the highlights are analyses of the crackdown in the Baltic republics, the miners' strikes, and the ongoing ethnic warfare in the Transcaucasus; the referendum on the future of the USSR and the prolonged negotiations between the center and the republics over the Union treaty;...