Vladislav Zubok, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in his book “Collapse. The Death of the Soviet Union" examines the causes and consequences of the collapse of the USSR, assesses the impact of this event on the course of world history and refutes established myths, the main one of which is the myth of the inevitability of the collapse of the Union. "Collapse" is a detailed analysis of the events of 1983–1991, which became the result many years of research by the author, communication with direct participants in the events and researchers of this phenomenon, work with documents in the archives of the USA and Russia. It depicts the political and economic problems of the state, the intellectual fecklessness and unwillingness of the elite to act. All this clearly argues for the author’s idea that the collapse of the Union was a direct result of counterproductive reforms that accelerated the republics’ rise to independence.