In this revision of their best-selling book, MacKenzie and Curran present a clear and objective account of the history of Russians and other eastern Slavs from its beginnings in ancient Rus to the demise of the Soviet Union and, most recently, the Putin presidency. Acclaimed in the field for its clarity, comprehensiveness, and accuracy, the text balances social/cultural history with political history. The authors' approach weaves the external geographic determinism of the Eurasian school and the organic, inner-oriented approach of Russian historians.
A leading international authority discusses all aspects of Russian history, from the struggle by the state to control society to the transformation of the nation into a multi-ethnic empire, Russia's relations with the West and the post-Soviet era. Original.
"A Brief History of Russia: From Kievan Rus to Soviet Union and beyond" is a comprehensive overview of the rich and complex history of Russia, written by Marc Ferrari. The book covers the major events and figures of Russian history from the first Slavic settlements to the present day, providing readers with a deep understanding of the country's past and present. The book begins with the early Slavic settlements and the rise of the Kievan Rus, exploring the formation of the state and its political and religious institutions. It then moves on to the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, the rise of the Muscovite state, and the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. The author provides a detailed account of the Romanov dynasty, which ruled Russia from the early 17th century until the 1917 Revolution. He explores the tumultuous period of the 19th century, including the Decembrist Revolt, the Emancipation of the Serfs, and the Russo-Japanese War. Marc Ferrari also delves into the complex events of the 20th century, including World War I, the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet era, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He provides detailed accounts of the key figures and events, including Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, and Gorbachev. The book concludes with a discussion of the rise of Putin and the current state of Russia. The author explores the challenges facing the country, including political instability, economic difficulties, and tensions with the West. Throughout the book, he provides a balanced and nuanced view of Russian history, highlighting both its achievements and its failures. He presents the country as a complex and diverse nation, with a rich cultural heritage and a complicated political and social history. Overall, "A Brief History of Russia: From Kievan Rus to Soviet Union and beyond" is an excellent introduction to the history of Russia, written in an accessible and engaging style. It is a must-read for anyone interested in this fascinating country and its place in the world.
This edited volume assembles the work of leading international scholars in a comprehensive history of Russian literary theory and criticism from 1917 to the post-Soviet age. By examining the dynamics of literary criticism and theory in three arenas—political, intellectual, and institutional—the authors capture the progression and structure of Russian literary criticism and its changing function and discourse. The chapters follow early movements such as formalism, the Bakhtin Circle, Proletklut, futurism, the fellow-travelers, and the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers. By the cultural revolution of 1928, literary criticism became a mechanism of Soviet policies, synchronous with official ideology. The chapters follow theory and criticism into the 1930s with examinations of the Union of Soviet Writers, semantic paleontology, and socialist realism under Stalin. A more "humanized" literary criticism appeared during the ravaging years of World War II, only to be supplanted by a return to the party line, Soviet heroism, and anti-Semitism in the late Stalinist period. During Khrushchev's Thaw, there was a remarkable rise in liberal literature and criticism, that was later refuted in the nationalist movement of the "long" 1970s. The same decade saw, on the other hand, the rise to prominence of semiotics and structuralism. Postmodernism and a strong revival of academic literary studies have shared the stage since the start of the post-Soviet era. For the first time anywhere, this collection analyzes all of the important theorists and major critical movements during a tumultuous ideological period in Russian history, including developments in emigre literary theory and criticism.
A Library Journal 2020 Title to Watch "Terrific - and an amazing achievement to cover so much ground in such a short and wonderfully readable book." -Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads Russia’s epic story told in an accessible, lively and short form, using the country's fascinating history to help us understand its actions today and what the future might hold A country with no natural borders, no single ethnic group, no true central identity, Russia has mythologized its past to unite its people, to justify its military decisions, and to signal strength to outsiders. Mark Galeotti takes us behind the myths to the heart of the Russian story, covering key moments such as: the formation of a nation through its early legends, including Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great the rise and fall of the Romanovs, the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, Chernobyl and the Soviet Union the arrival of an obscure politician named Vladimir Putin and his ambitions for Russia A Short History of Russia explores the history of this fascinating, extraordinary, desperate and exasperating country through two intertwined issues: the way successive influences from beyond its borders have shaped Russia, and the way Russians came to terms with this influence, writing and rewriting their past to understand their present and try to shape their future. In turn, this self-invented history has come to affect not just their constant nation-building project but also their relations with the world.
Is Russian history one big inevitable failure? The Soviet Union's demise and Russia's ensuing troubles have led many to wonder. But this is to look through a skewed prism indeed. In this provocative and elegantly written short history of Russia, Marshall Poe takes us well beyond the Soviet haze deep into the nation's fascinating--not at all inevitable, and in key respects remarkably successful--past. Tracing Russia's course from its beginnings to the present day, Poe shows that Russia was the only non-Western power to defend itself against Western imperialism for centuries. It did so by building a powerful state that molded society to its military needs. Thus arose the only non-Western path to modern society--a unique path neither "European" nor "Asian" but, most aptly, "Russian." From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, Russia prevailed despite unparalleled onslaughts by powerful Western armies. However, while Europe nurtured limited government, capitalism, and scientific and cultural revolution, early Russian society cultivated autocracy and command economics. Both Europe and Russia eventually created modern infrastructures, but the European model proved more productive and powerful. The post-World War I communist era can be seen as a natural continuation of Russia's autocratic past that, despite its tragic turns, kept Russia globally competitive for decades. The Russian moment in world history thus began with its first confrontations with Europe in the fifteenth century, and ended in 1991 with the Soviet collapse. Written with verve and great insight, The Russian Moment in World History will be widely read and vigorously debated by those who seek a clear and unequivocal understanding of the complex history that has made Russia what it is today.
This clear and focused text provides an introduction to imperial Russian and Soviet history from the crowning of Mikhail Romanov in 1613 to Vladimir Putin’s new term. Through a consistent chronological narrative, Kees Boterbloem considers the political, military, economic, social, religious, and cultural developments and crucial turning points that led Russia from an exotic backwater to superpower stature in the twentieth century. The author assesses the tremendous price paid by those who made Russia and the Soviet Union into such a hegemonic power, both locally and globally. He considers the complex and varied interactions between Russians and non-Russians and investigates the reasons for the remarkable longevity of this last of the colonial powers, whose dependencies were not granted independence until 1991. He explores the ongoing legacies of this fraught decolonization process on the Russian Federation itself and on the other states that succeeded the Soviet Union. The only text designed and written specifically for a one-semester course on this four-hundred-year period, it will appeal to all readers interested in learning more about the history of the people who have inhabited one-sixth of the earth’s landmass for centuries.
A surprising number of Jews lived, literally and figuratively, 'beyond the Pale' of Jewish Settlement in tsarist Russia during the half-century before the Revolution of 1917. This text reinterprets the history of the Russian-Jewish encounter, using long-closed Russian archives and other sources.
