Customer Reviews

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia (Hist Atlas)

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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.

Being interested in the historical expansion of Russia across Asia, I had high hopes for this book, since it was produced by the same publisher that gave us the excellent historical atlases of Europe and North America. However, unlike Colin McEvedy's invaluable works, I think this book was unfocused, convoluted and sloppy.

Where McEvedy's works were the epitome of conciseness, and could cover a half century's worth of continental-wide geopolitical change in a single page, this purported historical_atlas_of Russian history is crammed full of photos, cartoons, paintings and page after page of unnecessary text. Rejecting the brilliant simplicity of McEvedy's books, whose method was to generally show a snapshot of the political map in a single year, with accompanying text explaining the changes since the previous map, this book often shows hundreds of years worth of overlapping border changes on a single map, with different colored arrows- representing military campaigns- snaking their way through the resulting mishmash. The effect is often utter confusion.

Certain important subjects are given short shrift while comparatively insignificant areas receive inordinate attention. Russian expansion into Asia is dealt with by a single very, very bad map, and while the maps dealing with the expansion into the Caucuses and "the Stans" are ok, the explanatory text is unsatisfactorily cursory. Conversely, we are given much information on the location of various factories and industries within Russia, as well as maps of Moscow and the Sevastopol battlefield. The layout of the book is chronologically deranged as well. Can anyone explain to me why you would have a map of 1930s Europe, then have an entire chapter dealing with the history of the 20th century USSR until its dissolution, and_then_throw in a mere 2 maps on WWII? Similarly, why would you have a page with a map on the breakup of the USSR, and_then_finish the book with a chapter on Khrushchev's agricultural policies?? It just doesn't make sense.

You can learn from this book. It has some good maps and some good information. However, "some" is he operative word. Too much dross and too little editing spoiled what could have been a very useful work.

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.

This is probably the best atlas on Russia in the $1 to $100 category. The authors have gone through 1500 years of history on Russian territory starting from the late Scythian/early Hunnic era in Russia.

The maps are well designed and colors are beautifully used to give clarity. The maps deal with the Scytho-Slav era when Russia was divided into various disparate tribes, followed by the arrival of Rurikid Vikings who founded the Rus.

The atlas includes deal with Keivan Rus, invasion of mongols, the Tatar Yoke, the Northern wars with Sweden, Teutonic Knights and Poland, followed by the emergence of Muscovy. Ivan the Great, Ivan the terrible, Peter the Great, Katherine the Great all have been included in this atlas. Finally the soviet era has been covered though not in overwhelming detail- which is good.

There are a few shortfalls in this atlas which the authors and publishers should consider for their revised edition:

On page 23 the conversion of Vladimir from paganism to christianity can be depicted at Cherson in Crimea. Baptism of Rus is a very significant moment and should be included in any atlas on Russian history.

On page 39 the Crimean Khanate is missing and so is the Great Horde which was distinct from other hordes. The Tokhtmysh-Timur war which was fought in part on Russian territory is also missing from the maps.

Similarly, the Cossacks should also be depicted on page 39 as they had arrived on the scene by late 16th century and were raiding the Crimean Marauders and the Ottoman Empire's coastal strongholds.

Eastward expansion on Russia is poorly shown and is missing the great explorers such as Moskvitin and Dezhnev on page 50 (small map) and page 55 (big map). For this, the authors and publisher should refer to Colin McEvedy's atlas of the Pacific. His map on Russian exploration in Asia is much more lively, detailed and engaging.

Also, a map depicting Russia's interactions with Tokugawa Japan and Joseon Korea since the time of Peter the Great should be on or after page 55 in a separate map. Another map could show Russian explorers and their travels to middle-east and India from Caspian Sea and Astrakhan after Ivan the terrible's victory.

A separate map showing Religious life, saints and Monastaries, and the extent of serfdom in different russian regions from 17th to 19th century can also be shown.

There are several atlases on Russian History with a deeply held Anti-Russian Bigotry in their text as well as maps, such as those by the malicious Martin Gilbert (court historian of the marxist establishment and a hateful anti-slav, anti-russian bigot), and by Allen Chew (another virulent anti-Russian display), this attempt by Hudson and Channon is somewhat less bigoted and hostile.

Despite all these shortcomings I would say this is one of the less biased and bigoted atlases available on amazon.