The Russian Chronicles: A Thousand Years That Changed the World

Great book to be read before the trip. Much more book than I realized when I bought it.

I knew I had to pick buy this after I flipped through it at a book store. I have been half-heartedly searching for a couple years now for a book about Russian history that didn't focus on the 1917 revolution and the Cold War. Also, it's full of illustrations and sidebar articles that bring this subject to life. Just for interest reading, this book has been fascinating. From the Kievan Rus to the St. Petersburg czars, and all the interesting stuff in between like the Mongol invasions and Ivan the Terrible, is in here. It's a good light read, because it's not in lengthy novel form. It's my coffee table book.