A summary of Roman Zlotnikov’s "The Fall of an Empire"

A science fiction novel published in 2022 tells the story of an adult man from the twenty-first century who is transported into the body of a young Soviet schoolboy. This book is the story of the protagonist’s coming of age and his adaptation to the realities of the late USSR. He applies his historical knowledge to survive and build a life for his family amid the impending decline of the Soviet state. The character deliberately avoids attempts at global salvation for the collapsing state, focusing instead on local changes and the financial well-being of his family.

This book is the second in the literary series "The Present Past." The series also includes "The Present Past: Hello Again!", "Once Upon a Time in America," and "To Each According to His Deeds."

Student life and Olympic gold

In the late 1970s, after earning a gold medal at school, Roman Markov moved to Leningrad. He rented a prestigious apartment on Babushkina Street for himself and his fiancée, Alenka, furnished with imported Finnish fixtures and expensive French tableware. The young man successfully entered the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Leningrad State University. Literary publications, his status as a young writer, and a silver medal at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR secured the loyalty of the party leadership.

Sports committee officials decide to exploit the talented student for political purposes. To defuse talk of a boycott of the upcoming Moscow Olympics, Markov is sent to France for an international marathon. On the Parisian track, the dog of local aristocrat Isabelle Jorillard runs into Roman’s feet. With a serious knee injury, the runner limps to the finish line, furiously shouting into the cameras, "Russians never give up." This phrase instantly makes the young man an idol for sentimental Frenchmen. Isabelle becomes a close friend of the Markov family, supplying Alenka with hard-to-find European clothing from her famous couturier grandfather, Pierre Nordin.

In the summer of 1980, Roman qualified for the Moscow Olympics. He replaced an athlete who had withdrawn due to appendicitis. Despite the skeptical predictions of his coaches, Markov entered a running trance and sensationally won the marathon. Having won Olympic gold, the student faced increased media attention, but tried to stay away from big politics. Foreign publishers eagerly purchased the rights to his texts.

War in Afghanistan

In the spring of 1981, Markov was called up for military service. His status as a champion and popular writer didn’t prevent the paratrooper from being sent to Afghanistan. After grueling training in hot Termez under the strict Sergeant Koval, the young man was assigned to Herat. He served as a bulldozer driver in an engineering platoon, regularly clearing avalanches and delivering water to remote checkpoints.

In December, a Soviet troop column is ambushed near the Rabati Mirza Pass. The mujahideen open crossfire with Chinese heavy machine guns. Markov hides his tractor behind a rock, safely shielding his commander and fellow soldiers behind a bulldozer blade. Then the sergeant crawls into the disabled airborne combat vehicle. With trembling hands, the young man loads the gun with fragmentation grenades and blindly fires at the militants’ positions. A stray shot kills a machine gun crew, including one of the most respected leaders of the Afghan rebels, Turan Ismail.

Markov suffered a concussion and shrapnel wounds. In the Tashkent military hospital, the sergeant was personally visited by Vasily Margelov, Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces. A short time later, for his heroism, Roman was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. The awards ceremony in the Kremlin was conducted by Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Ogarkov. In response to a question from the marshal, the sergeant openly declared that the Afghan campaign would turn into a Vietnam-like experience for the Soviet Union. The military and party elite were shocked by such impudence.

Life in Estonia and the first millions

Returning to civilian life, Roman and Alenka have a lavish wedding. The celebration features performances by Leningrad rock legends with whom Markov had become close friends: Boris Grebenshchikov, Viktor Tsoi, and Sergei Kuryokhin. The couple buys a Czechoslovakian sports car, a Škoda Rapid, and travels extensively throughout the country. They have a daughter. Roman transfers to the Ministry of the Navy and works as a translator for the Estonian Shipping Company.

The family moves to Tallinn. The hero obtains a seaman’s passport and regularly visits Helsinki. In Finland, Markov secretly exchanges Soviet rubles for dollars, preparing for economic upheaval. Soon, the head of the shipping company warns Roman that the local KGB is closely monitoring his frequent strolls along Finnish shopping streets. At the same time, open nationalism flares up in Estonia. Radical locals begin insulting Russian-speaking citizens. The Markovs hastily leave the Baltics and move to the Trans-Yauza region.

In Moscow, Roman, together with former government official Aykhan Vagifov, opens a cooperative publishing house called "Modern Science Fiction, Adventures, and Detectives." They print science fiction in large print runs, paying authors substantial royalties. The business generates colossal profits. Markov becomes a legitimate Soviet millionaire. He buys a huge five-room apartment in a Stalin-era high-rise on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment from a family emigrating to Israel.

The deal is surrounded by a tumultuous legal battle. The Ministry of Aviation Industry is attempting to seize the luxury apartment, accusing Roman of fraud. Old acquaintances from the political elite come to the rescue, harshly mitigating administrative pressure. Markov hires a renowned French designer to renovate the luxury apartment. The designer’s services are paid for from a bank account in France, which receives royalties from the retractable luggage handle Roman designed. Alenka, inspired by her French friends to take up photography, publishes her work in prestigious European magazines. The couple soon has a second child, a son.

Big politics and predictions

Roman’s revelations in the Kremlin’s St. George’s Hall bear unexpected fruit. Yevgeny Primakov and Marshal Ogarkov approach the promising millionaire. The politicians ask the writer to outline his vision of the geopolitical situation. Markov writes detailed analytical reports. The author predicts a parade of sovereignties, the secession of the Baltic states, the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia, and the unification of Germany. The writer advises statesmen to demand that the Germans undertake the full-scale construction of modern military bases on Russian territory in exchange for the withdrawal of army units.

The curators highly value the guest’s unconventional analysis. With their tacit support, Roman wins the election and receives a mandate as a People’s Deputy of the RSFSR. During the election campaign, he personally canvasses courtyards, listens to the complaints of grandmothers at their apartment building entrances, and helps repair the city’s storm drains. His parliamentary status gives the writer legal access to purchasing foreign currency on the state exchange and obtaining a diplomatic passport.

Markov travels to the United States on business, where he meets Stephen King. After much persuasion, the American author agrees to sell the publishing rights to ten of his novels for a thousand dollars each. Roman establishes connections with Western authors, expanding the range of his Moscow publishing house. Meanwhile, the deputy ignores most meetings of relevant parliamentary committees, believing his colleagues’ frantic activity to be detrimental to the educational system.

The collapse of the state

By the end of 1991, the Soviet economy was in complete collapse. Inflation was rapidly eroding the value of citizens’ long-standing savings. Grocery store shelves were completely empty. Markov, remembering the painful experience of the past, began buying up flour, canned meat, sugar, and gasoline in bulk. The deputy safely stored his supplies in his grandfather’s wooden house in his native village near Moscow. He tried to reason with his older relatives, urging them to immediately spend their dwindling rubles on any material possessions, but the older generation stubbornly believed in future government compensation.

On December 8, 1991, the day the Belovezh Accords were signed in Viskuli, Roman gathered nine of his closest friends. The writer announced an imminent rise in retail prices. He urged his friends to immediately spend all their savings and offered them interest-free loans from his own millions. The friends joyfully accepted the offer, trusting their comrade’s exceptional honesty. A longing for the passing of a stable era forces Markov to reconsider his years of political inaction.

On December 12, Boris Yeltsin triumphantly addresses the Supreme Soviet. Markov, filled with deep hatred for those who initiated the country’s destruction, buys a bouquet of thirty white roses with sharp thorns. The deputy quickly ascends the White House stage. Approaching the podium, Roman slams the bouquet into Yeltsin’s face, leaving deep scratches. Following the bouquet, the writer delivers a hard, ringing slap, knocking the president down before the eyes of Rutskoi, Khasbulatov, and Burbulis. Markov calmly steps up to the microphone and launches into a furious speech about the traitors in power who condemn millions of people to deprivation and poverty. The work conceptually comes full circle, concluding with the very same words with which the book’s prologue began.