The Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia

As a long time student of history, I've been delighted by the relatively recent growth in popularity of the Historical Atlas. Studying the cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and China or Medieval England, France and Germany and others is much easier for me when I've got plenty of date sensitive maps to refer to, giving geographical context to ebb and flow of events over time. But I guess I've been spoiled when studying works about these other cultures, where there seems to be plenty of information about what went on in the distant past. It seems we can uncover the nick-name of the king's dentist when we're studying ancient Egypt. But I'm increasingly frustrated when it comes to my efforts to study the more distant portions of Russia's past, and this book, I must admit, was no exception. While providing excellent coverage of the more recent/modern chapters of Russia's past, this book, like every other history of Russia I've been able to find, seems to suggest that we just don't know much about the early stages of Russian history. I'm glad to have the few maps on Early Russia that this book provides. They do add some helpful map based context to other works I've read, and that's always appreciated. But the more I study Russia, the more I'm convinced that if you're a historian or archaeologist and want to pursue a field where there's still a LOT of history to be uncovered ... try Russia on for size. The challenge will be considerable ... but so's the opportunity.

I have been teaching the history of Russia at Cornel University for many years and have never found a completely satistfactory hisitorical atlas. Channon's work is defintely the best available. The maps are in color and deal with most of the main issues. A notable omission is a map showing the climatic zones which moulded the life of the Russian people.

The Penguin Historical Atlases are a great resource for those that are new to countries or perhaps are somewhat younger readers. In John Channon's version of Russian history, you'll find a concise, colorful and informative collection of articles spanning Russia's origins, the Tatars and establishment of imperial rule, through the Revolution, reforms and restructuring of the 20th Century. In a way it resembles something of a compilation of articles from a good illustrated encyclopedia. The appeal of the volume is in it's size, illustrations and charts- I think of it as a kind of annotated "table of contents" to Russian history. It's a great resource to get the basic synopsis of a period, person or event that you can then take to a larger volume for greater detail. If you are looking for a great coffee table book or in depth Russian history, this isn't it. As a neophyte to all things Russian, I found this to be the attractive appetizer that inspired me to really delve into Russian history and affairs. While visiting a friend a few years ago in Siberia, he was struck by the readability, illustrations and usefulness of my copy-- yes, I brought it with me... He loved it so much, that I just had to leave it with him when I left. I now have purchased my second copy.It's a great little introduction to Russia.