Book excerpt: The regimes of Brezhnev and Gorbachev, and the transition from stagnation, through reform, to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union form the principal focus of this book. Developments in both foreign and domestic spheres are covered and the whole period is put into historical perspective. The book considers what has changed and why glasnost and perstroika, greeted with both enthusiasm and apprehension in many quarters, failed to solve the problems of the Soviet Union and ultimately hastened its destruction.