Customer Reviews

A History of Russia

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I couldn't help but address the comments of the reader that gave this work 1 star. It's interesting that he cites the territories annexed by Russia as Chinese / Japanese / etc. Where do you think Japan / China / etc. got those territories? Did he ever stop to think that at one point in time Japan, China, and any other country didn't have statehood, and the latter is always achieved through a painful process of unification by both doplomatic and military means? If same logic of denying a country its legitimacy based on forceful means of expansion is used consistently, then our great country of the USA should also be considered an illegitimate occupant of native American lands. Please let us adhere to commonly accepted methods of historical research and exposition, instead of expressing one's ill attitude toward a country using flawed reasoning.

The book at hand does indeed present a comprehensive coverage of Russian history, albeit in a somewhat dry fashion. Do not expect to finish this book and be left with crisp and colorful images of Russia's history. But what you can expect is a comprehensive coverage of every period of Russian history, complete with dates, names, and places. After a once-over, this book can be used as a reference, or a refresher on a particular timeframe in the history of the country. I am still looking for a more captivating work on Russian history, so anyone knows of any - please recommend.

Do not expect gripping dramatic prose from this detailed history. This is an adequate text and reference but not likely suited for the information-seeking, recreational reader. Despite studying international relations for several years, my knowledge of Russian history exhibited glaring weaknesses. Riasanovsky's work continued to appear as I researched texts with which to fortify my deficiencies. All indications show it to be a classic work of Russian history, used in university courses for decades, and perhaps the most detailed one-volume work suited for a general audience. I found "A History of Russia" (Sixth Edition) to be informative, detailed, and faithfully updated (now encapsulating the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia under Yeltsin). Although a solid text, it is a difficult tome to conquer cover-to-cover as it fails to capture the literary senses of the reader.

Riasanovsky takes the reader mechanically through the development of the Russian state. He begins with the geopolitical landscape as it existed prior to the Russians then examines in detail the flowering of Kiev, the appanage system, and the Muscovite, imperialist, revolutionary, and Soviet eras. Riasanovsky's painstaking attention to detail and thorough familiarity with other historiographies provide the reader with a comprehensive evolutionary picture. For example, his illustration of the early appanage system and the continuation of class disparities well into the 20th century shed ample light on the fertile ground into which Vladimir Lenin was able to sow the communist theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. His verbal portraits of leaders such as Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great give meaningful context to the power struggles and political imbroglios which characterized specific reigns. The addenda which have accompanied each new edition are less detailed and necessarily superficial. They provide sufficient material to update the reader on Russia's current state of affairs but beg for additional research by the more serious student.

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.

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.

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...

My Russian history prof. in college used this book because, "It was the only one he could get students to read, although it doesn't really reach the scholarly level of the likes of Kliuchevskii." Serious students of Russian history won't get much to chew here, but general readers will find it a pleasant read.

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.

What country spans multiple time zones, is populated by peoples of numerous religions and races, was built by war, conquest and immigration, whose geography encompasses massive lakes, endless rivers, inhospitable deserts and cold arctic forests, and whose every change in step sends shivers down the spine of its neighbors? The USA? No, the answer is Russia, the topic of this comprehensive text. Covering the history of this land and its peoples from its origins at Kiev to the fall of the Soviet Union, this book is probably the ultimate text for those not familiar with this topic and want to learn about it. The book devotes attention to the usual topics such as Peter the Great, serfdom, the Russian Revolution, the two World Wars, communism and the space race / nuclear age. The book also addresses many lesser known topics about Russia's history; such as the diversity of Russia's population, and the affects of Viking invaders from the West and North, and Mongol invaders from the South and East. The book is laid out in chronological order, and a straight reading from cover to cover takes about 1 - 2 weeks of dedicated reading, and will reward the reader with an objective, and comprehensive understanding of this country; its past, present and future. I highly recommend it.

For anyone interested in an introduction to the history of Russia, I highly recommend Riasanovsky's book. It provides a thorough overview of a very rich and complicated subject within the confines of a single volume. I was impressed with the manner in which the author breaks down the timeline of Russian history and treats subtopics (such as cultural developments) separately. I just completed this book and have already recommended it to others whom I know are interested in learning more about Russia.

I had the privilege of taking many classes given by Prof. Riasanovsky at Berkeley in the early 70's. Now as a high school teacher, I use his book as our text. It is thorough, clear, explains historical transitions well, and gets high praise from my students. Excellent index and references.