Robert Service

Robert Service is one of the most distinguished historians of Russia and the Soviet Union, a fellow of the British Academy and emeritus professor at the University of Oxford. His book The August Coup examines the dramatic events of August 1991, when hardline Soviet officials attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev and halt the reforms that were transforming the USSR, a failed coup that instead accelerated the collapse of the Soviet Union and changed the course of world history. Service has written definitive biographies of Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky, as well as major histories of the Russian Revolution and the Communist Party, establishing himself as one of the foremost Western authorities on Soviet history and politics. His writing is characterised by meticulous archival research, balanced analysis, and a narrative clarity that makes complex political events accessible to general readers while maintaining the rigour demanded by scholars. Service brings to The August Coup not only his deep historical knowledge but also his understanding of the personalities, institutions, and ideological currents that shaped the final years of the Soviet experiment. His account of the coup is both a compelling narrative of events and an analytical examination of why the Soviet system ultimately could not sustain itself. The August Coup is available as an audiobook, offering listeners an authoritative, gripping account of three days that changed the world.