Dismantling Utopia: How Information Ended the Soviet Union
Scott Shane
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
By the 1980s the Soviet Union had matched the United States in military might and far surpassed it in the production of steel, timber, concrete, and oil. But the electronic whirlwind that was transforming the global economy had been locked out by Communist leaders. Heirs to an old Russian tradition of censorship, they had banned photocopiers, prohibited accurate maps and controlled word-for-word even the scripts of stand-up comedians. Hoping to "renew socialism" and save a Communist system in decay, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power determined to lift restrictions on the control of communications and information. What happened next is the subject of Scott Shane's brilliant account in Dismantling Utopia. On the scene in Moscow as correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, he witnessed firsthand how Gorbachev experiment produced a revolution that proved fatal to his party, his government, and his own political career. Shane's compellingly readable story is filled with memorable characters, revealing vignettes, and striking statistics. Gorbachev scarcely anticipated the information revolution "that between 1987 and 1991 swept across Soviet existence, touching every nook of daily life, battering hoary myths and lies, and ultimately eroding the foundations of Soviet power, " Shane writes, "Information, the forbidden fruit, was around every corner, on everyone's mind - the young woman on the Metro with her copy of the journal Nory Mir bent open to the latest installment of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago; scores of Muscovites elbowing one another to get a glimpse of the latest copy of Moscow News, pinned behind glass each Wednesday night at Pushkin Square; friends hustling you into their apartmentdirect to the TV to catch the latest sensation." Moving from television studios to KGB offices, from comedy concerts to street demonstrations, Shane explores the profound consequences of Gorbachev's initiative. As newspapers, television, books, films, and videotapes flooded the cou
Product Details
Price
$28.75
Publisher
Ivan R. Dee Publisher
Publish Date
April 01, 1994
Pages
335
Dimensions
6.29 X 1.23 X 9.44 inches | 1.0 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781566630481
BISAC Categories:
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Scott is the A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. His previous faculty appointments include University of Maryland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Georgia Institute of Technology. The author of over 60 scholarly articles on entrepreneurship and innovation management, Dr. Shane's work has appeared in Management Science, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Decision Sciences, and Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and International Journal of Industrial Organization, among other journals. He has written or edited ten books, Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By, Technology Strategy for Managers and Entrepreneurs, Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary Opportunities for New Ventures; From Ice Cream to the Internet: Using Franchising to Unlock the Potential of Your Business; Academic Entrepreneurship: University Spinoffs and Wealth Creation, A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: The Individual-Opportunity Nexus, Foundations of Entrepreneurship, Handbook of Technology and Innovation Management, Economic Development Through Entrepreneurship: Government, University and Business Linkages and Entrepreneurship: A Process Perspective (with Robert Baron). Dr. Shane has served as editor of special issues of Research Policy on "Technology Entrepreneurship" and Management Science on "University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer". He currently serves as editor of the R&D, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Division of Management Science. Dr. Shane's Ph.D. is from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His current research examines: 1.how entrepreneurs discover and evaluate opportunities, assemble resources, and design organizations; 2.university spin-offs and technology transfer; 3.business format franchising; and 4.angel investing Dr. Shane has consulted to numerous large and small organizations, and has taught in executive education programs around the world. He is also an angel investor and member of the North Coast Angel Fund
Reviews
Convincing and powerful.--Nicholas Daniloff, former Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, now director of the School of Journalism at Northeastern Unive
A critical book to understanding the era...Scott Shane tells the story of the way the modern information age helped destroy the last pillars of communism, and he tells it with grace, sympathy, and intelligence.--David Remnick, author of Lenin's Tomb
Accessible and absorbing.--The Historian
Well documented...a readable account.--The New York Times
Shane's book is reportage at its bestóan insightful blend of anecdote, observation, biographical sketch, statistics, and history. This is a vivid, first-class eyewitness description and analysis of the sudden demise of Soviet communism.--Albert Resis, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, Northern Illinois University; editor, Molotov Remembers
A critical book to understanding the era...Scott Shane tells the story of the way the modern information age helped destroy the last pillars of communism, and he tells it with grace, sympathy, and intelligence.--David Remnick, author of Lenin's Tomb
Accessible and absorbing.--The Historian
Well documented...a readable account.--The New York Times
Shane's book is reportage at its bestóan insightful blend of anecdote, observation, biographical sketch, statistics, and history. This is a vivid, first-class eyewitness description and analysis of the sudden demise of Soviet communism.--Albert Resis, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, Northern Illinois University; editor, Molotov Remembers