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A Concise History of Russia by Paul Bushkovitch (view source)
Revision as of 14:22, 31 August 2020
, 14:22, 31 August 2020no edit summary
The end of the Soviet Union brought Russia into an uncertain new era. As the author asks towards the end, one of the basic dilemmas was (in fact, is) ''What is Russia? And what is to be the political ideal to cement the state?'' Hopes that the Russia of the 1990s would instantly be transformed into a peaceful democratic power were severely dented when the Russian air force bombed Grozny in 1994. The age of Putin, and in time his successors, means that the new chapter will soon be ready to be written.
Yet all histories of this nature can only be to some extent an interim statement. This throughthorough, fully-researched volume is a mine of facts and information, and while perhaps not for the general reader, will be an essential volume for the serious student. A few illustrations are integrated with the text, and six maps in a separate section at the front show the boundaries, from that of Kievan Rus' in the 11th century, to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Ten pages of sources and further reading follow the text, though the book's value would have been increased by the provision of a chronology of events.
Our thanks to Cambridge University Press for sending Bookbag a copy.
If you'd like to know more about Russia, you could try [[Russia: A 1,000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East by Martin Sixsmith]]. You might also appreciate [[The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents by Alex Butterworth]].
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