A History of Russia

From what I've been able to determine, this seems to be the state of the art in single volume Russian Histories as Russia comes out of "The Soviet Era" where meaningful histories were at best very hard to come by. As a long time student of history, I'm just now turning my sites to Russia, so I don't claim to be an expert. But when I started dating a delightful woman from Russian, my interest in learning as much as I could about her homeland was a natural. As I started to research the topic, I was a bit surprised to find how difficult it was to find thorough histories of Russia ... until I began to understand that "Soviet times" made serious treatment of history exceptionally challenging ... and Soviet times have only been a thing of the past for a relatively short period of time. So, given that there simply isn't as yet a wide variety of material available on this subject, it wasn't to hard to sort out which were among the best, and "A History of Russia" seems to be one of the top contenders. I use it in conjunction with the Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia (with tons of very helpful maps) and find I'm getting a great and detailed overview of Russia's past. I'll have a better feeling for how balanced and accurate this work is after I've had a chance to read more books on the topic, but it seems that this book is at very least a great place to start one's research of Russia's past. I will point out here, as I did with the Penguin Atlas, if you're looking for information on the ANCIENT history of Russia ... or, perhaps more accurately ... Russia's pre-history ... you won't find too much here. I don't think that's a failing of this book ... there just doesn't seem to be that much written history of what came before Kievan Russia or much archaeology of this area. Unlike nations such as Britain or Egypt where much was written and much has been excavated, Russia, more like the United States, has a very detailed history of it's recent past ... and very little detailed information about it's more distant past. With that said, I think "A History of Russia" is a great place to begin one's studies of Russia. Reviews by others with more expertise seem to suggest it's more than just a beginner's introduction ... but you should rely on their reviews for that point of view.

1. If you consider yourself interested in Russian history in more than a casual way, this book is for you. It is an academic work, meaning that it wasn't written in the novelistic style that many history books are written in these days. 2. Riasanovsky makes you aware of any significant debate that may exist on a topic, citing names of authors and explaining, for example, when they are Soviet school or not, so that you can understand any potential bias. 3. Even if you don't want to read the whole thing straight off, this book is compartmentalized well, so that you should find some kind of reference to the section that you're interested in. My struggle has always been that I want to have a place that I can go and find out what the GOOD stuff to read on a subject is; each chapter has a substantial bibliography, so Riasanovsky empowers you to go further with any subject. 4. Some clarification on Riasanovsky's "bias": He is definitely critical of imperial Russia. Read the section on Nicholas I, for example. However, you can kind of sense that he's rooting for Russian expansion, growth, etc. and lamenting any setbacks in Russia's glory, but this is not overt, and I do not believe he covers anything up. 5. I wish he'd been a little harder on Lenin. His comes off like one of the most tragic deaths in Russian history, and we don't really get a sense of the scumbag that he was. Yeah, Stalin is an easy act to precede, but come on...

I just read a "one star review" of this book, and it galled me. So I write this.This book is a STANDARD history of Russia, used by many, including my, college courses on the subject. It is generally considered a classic.If you want, or profess, to understand Russian history, this book is a must. Absolutely. First rate. NO, not without the author's personal imput. But what book is without that imput? NONE.Buy it, read it, and try to understand. Yes, read others, but read this first. THIS IS THE STANDARD TEXT.Take care and God bless your endeavors.

For those interested in Russia and its past, this is not a bad place to start. It is as comprehensive as a 600 page volume can be. I read the Fourth Edition, so am glad to hear that it has been updated at least to the Gorbochov era. Riasanovsky is particularly adroit at representing early Russian history, with vivid accounts of the numerous invasions (Mongols, Vikings, Tatars, Teutons, etc.). After reading this book, one cannot help but understand the national paranoia and xenophobia that has been so much a part of Russian policy and posture throughout so much of its history. It also becomes clearer why Russia has historically needed a central "father" or "mother" figure to guide it through its tumultuous periods. As to a reader's criticism, Riasanovsky is indeed somewhat biased, but certainly no more than the typical American historian writing about US History. He gives more than equal blame, for instance, to Nicholas II for getting his country involved in the Crimean War. He certainly never acts as an apologist for any of the Russian rulers at any stage, though his admiration for Peter the Great and Catherine can't be denied. Poles, Ukranians, Lithuanians, etc. are not going to be won over by this book, but it is to the author's credit that the reader understands why they wont be. But winning anyone's approval is hardly Riasnovsky's object. He's primarily trying to tell the story of a people, and he succeeds on that level, quite brilliantly. The story he tells is complex and fascinating, to say the least. So many colorful and unforgettable characters advanced across Russia's historical stage, that any other country would be hard put to come up with such a cast or a saga.