Russia and the Soviet Union

A short, readable introduction to the history of Russia. I found the outdated third edition at the thrift store, so for me the book stopped in 1994 with the fate of the post-Soviet states still unclear. I mainly wanted to read something that would help me get the main dates and rulers and other impor......more

I'm planning a future long trip to Russia and neighboring countries, so thought I ought to start getting some idea of Russia's history. I knew quite a bit from the 1917 revolution onwards but was pretty sketchy before that. This is a decent primer on Russian history, I think others have said that it......more

Excellent and very readable book about the history of Russia up to the publication of the book in the late 1990s. The book is well organized; each chapter concerns one period in history with an introduction and a summary with the bibliography included at the end of the chapter. Highly recommended.......more

This is an excellent introduction to Russia. Highly recommended. My one frustration is the author’s opinion on some things that seem like they don’t need an opinion. “There are no quality symphonies from this time”. Really? Objectively? Or just none that you find to be quality.......more

Pretty good, great understanding, highly respectable work This would be a great 'first book on Russia Author's perspective is clearly American......more