Eyewitness to the 1991 Soviet Coup (81)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 863 Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2019

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a 24-year-old Kieran Williams was in Moscow staying with Soviet friends when the 1991 Moscow Coup occurred. He is a Professor at Drake University in the United States and previously he taught for nine years at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he was an associate professor in politics as well as a frequent consultant to the UK Foreign Office. He is a specialist in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe, he has authored or co-authored four books, including a prize-winning account of the 1968 events in Czechoslovakia and a biography of the writer-statesman Václav Havel. Now as I’m sure you know some of our fans who are helping the podcast financially, so if you’d like to join this select band? Then sign up to Patreon. For the price of a couple of coffees a month you help to cover the show’s increasing costs and keep us on the air, plus you get the sought after CWC coaster too. Just go to Patreon.com/coldwarpod Back to today’s episode, Kieran gives a rich eyewitness account of those edgy days with vivid descriptions of what he saw and felt during those tumultuous days. I’m delighted to welcome Kieran Williams to Cold War Conversations Do visit our show notes at https://coldwarconversations.com/episode81 These include Kieran's photos of the Coup and some amazing audio he recorded in the streets of Moscow at the time - well worth a look! Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	It was like a scene from a Tarkovsky movie where you have these buses, buses on fire,
0:11.9	buses that have been used as a barricade had been somehow ignited in that exchange.
0:18.5	So these buses on fire and in the it, it was this huge black dog.
0:24.3	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:27.7	If you're new here,
0:29.0	you've come to the right place
0:30.4	to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:34.1	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app
0:36.8	or join our emailing list at cold warconversations.com.
0:43.0	As a 24-year-old, Kieran Williams was in Moscow staying with friends when the 1991 Moscow coup occurred.
0:52.8	He's a professor at Drake University in the United States,
0:56.4	and previously he taught for nine years at University College London's
1:00.3	School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
1:03.9	where he was an associate professor in politics
1:06.3	as well as a frequent consultant for the UK Foreign Office.
1:10.6	He is a specialist in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe
1:14.6	and has authored or co-authored four books, including a prize-winning account of the
1:20.1	1968 events in Czechoslovakia and a biography of the writer-statesman Vakslav Harville.
1:27.0	Now, as I'm sure you know, some of our fans are helping the podcast financially,
1:32.0	so if you'd like to join this select band, then sign up to Patreon.
1:38.3	For the price of a couple of coffees a month, you can help to cover the show's
	...

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