ABSTRACT
The putsch of August 1991 can be seen as a parable of the Gorbachev regime. It was highly theatrical, indeed it contained all the elements of a morality play where good swiftly triumphs over evil. Gorbachev himself became a target. An aide was “turned” and provided detailed reports on discussions in the president’s office. Like Gorbachev, Vladimir Kryuchkov was a protege of Yuri Andropov, the first man who went from being head of the kgb to head of the Soviet Union. A man of medium height and nondescript suits, with a round head covered by wispy strands of white hair, he had all the charisma of a bank clerk. Gennadi Yanayev was a limited man and a lazy man – he hadn’t read an official document in three months; investigators found them in his office after the putsch, unopened and untouched – but he had one virtue.
