Russia: A Short History

Abraham Ascher has succeeded in bringing alive the history of Russia from its very beginnings up to the present time.

Abraham Ascher's book Russia: A Short History is an informative and insightful summary of Russia's long and storied history. Beginning with the emergence of the first Slavic state and finishing with Putin's presidency, Ascher brilliantly encapsulates Russia politically, socially, and culturally. He does a great job of condensing almost a millennium of material into an easy to read 250 page book. I do not envy his job as I'm sure it pained him to try and summarize so much with so few sentences. Although I only began reading from chapter 3 I can still confidently say that I owe a great deal of what I now know about Russian history today to what I read in Ascher's text. After touching on the time period between 1000 and 1650, Abraham really begins to tap into his genius at the start of Peter the Great's rein in 1695. He proves he is not just a great historian but also a good writer by telling memorable stories which compliment the objective narrative. One can tell that Ascher truly enjoys discussing Russian history especially the great rulers such as Peter, Catherine, Lenin and Stalin. If I had to guess I would say that Ascher's area of expertise would be from the revolutions of the early 20th century and through the USSR's rein. It is during these later chapters that Ascher makes his most precise analyses and gives his most thorough commentary. Obviously the book is not recommended to those seeking an in-depth review of Russian history. That would be impossible to achieve in only 250 pages. The book best serves those who are seeking a shorter examination. One should not assume however, that Ascher substitutes quality for brevity. I used the book as a source of information for my Russian history class, and it proved to be a great way to prepare for class discussion. It was easy to read and I absorbed a lot of information in a quick amount of time. I never thought I would be able to learn from a text book that just contained text. Besides a few maps, there are no pictures or diagrams in Ascher's book. To be honest, it hardly mattered to me and I felt Ascher wrote in a manner with which I was able to fully comprehend. I would recommend Russia: A Short History to all who are seeking a concise and insightful review of Russian history

An excellent general overview, Ascher has succeeded in condensing a tremendous amount of information into a concise and highly readable book. This is an accomplishment not to be underestimated! Many could write the same book in 2,000 pages, but to get it all into 250 is a noteworthy. I've studied Russian history in some depth, but I was looking for something that gets straight to the point to use teaching a high school class. I was really impressed with this book, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a comprehensive yet brief overeview of the subject.