Abstract

This review offers a map of the main interpretative issues in the recent historiography of the Soviet Union. It is organized in a chronological way and covers the period that goes from the Second World War to the dissolution of the USSR. Historians have paid particular attention to three Soviet leaders. The first is Stalin and his political programs. The second is Khrushchev and his ambiguous role in de-stalinization and in realizing effective reforms. The third and last is Gorbachev, who has often been accused of being more committed to foreign policy than to the domestic problems of the Ussr. Whether this is true or not, his reforms did not catalyze a transition but, instead, contributed to the irreversible implosion of the Soviet Union.