Environmental problems and their management were one of the main areas of concern for the Soviet government in the late 1980s, just before its dissolution. In this original study, first published in 1991, barely preceding the Soviet Union's collapse, Professor Philip Pryde examines the pervasive nature of biosphere disruption and environmental contaminants in the country and the extent to which they represented a threat to the Soviet populace and its resource base. This book was the first comprehensive study of Soviet environmental issues and was written by an international specialist on Soviet environmental problems and management. It was first published at a time when the Western world was increasingly following developments in the Soviet Union with interest and environmental protection had become one of the primary topics of glasnost. Environmental Management in the Soviet Union will therefore be essential reading for environmental historians and for students and specialists of conservation and environmental management with a special interest in the Soviet Union.