Moscow, December 25, 1991

and Gorbachev, expulsion from presidential office of

and Gorbachev, first meeting between

and Gorbachev, harassment of

and Gorbachev, hiring by

and Gorbachev, at Middle East conference

and Gorbachev, power loss of

and Gorbachev, and resignation from Politburo

and Gorbachev, resignation speech of

and Gorbachev, and Soviet republics

and Gorbachev, and suicide attempt

and Gorbachev, television interviews between

and Gorbachev, and town hall meeting

and Gorbachev, and transfer of power

and Gorbacheva, death of

health of

and Honecker

impeachment of, call for

international goodwill of

and KGB, disbanding of

lecture tour of

marriage of

and nationalism

and new union treaty

New Year’s message of

and news media interviews

and newspapers

and nuclear button

and nuclear suitcase

and nuclear weapons

and parliament, dissolution of

and party privilege

and perestroika

and personal security

and personnel and state property, transfer of

physical appearance of

and Politburo, resignation from

and popular base, growth of

as president (first term)

as president (second term)

and presidential campaign

and presidential perks

and presidential powers referendum

presidential reelection campaign of

resentment toward

residences of

resignation of

and river incident

at Russian White House

and Sakharov, death of

and “secret speech,”

and shock therapy(see also Economic reform)

and sovereignty, declaration of

and Soviet republics

and state assets, appropriation of

and storming of bureaucracy

suicide attempt by

takeover by

and television, control of

and three-state union

and transfer of power

and transfer of power, aftermath of

and Twenty-seventh Party Congress

and Ukraine

and Belovezh agreement

and United States

and United States, visit to

and Western leaders

and White House, storming of

at White House in Washington

Yeltsina, Naina

and August coup

marriage of

and Yeltsin, suicide attempt of

Zaikov, Lev

Zaslavsky, Ilya

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir

Zucconi, Vittorio

BOOKS BY CONOR O’CLERY

May You Live in Interesting Times

The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune

Panic at the Bank: How John Rusnak Lost AlB $700 Million (coauthored with Siobhan Creaton)

Daring Diplomacy: Clinton’s Secret Search for Peace in Ireland

America: A Place Called Hope?

Melting Snow: An Irishman in Moscow

Phrases Make History Here

About the Author

Conor O’Clery lived and worked in Russia during the final years of the Soviet Union as Moscow correspondent for the Irish Times. He won journalist of the year in Ireland for his reporting from the Soviet Union, and again in 2002 for his firsthand accounts of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. In thirty years with the Irish Times he also served as correspondent in London, Beijing, New York, and Washington. He is GlobalPost’s Ireland correspondent and is the author of several books, including The Billionaire Who Wasn’t, a biography of the American philanthropist Chuck Feeney, named a 2007 best book of the year by the Economist and BusinessWeek.

About the Publisher

PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.

I.F. STONE, proprietor of I. F. Stone’s Weekly, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published The Trial of Socrates, which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.

BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of The Washington Post. It was Ben who gave the Post the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.

ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nation’s premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.

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