A Short History of Russia

I bought this book as a present for my English boyfriend, based on the good reviews. I am Russian and wanted him to understand better my country by reading a history. But I was very disappointed, because it is not easy to read even for a native person and the author hates Russia, that's what I felt through the lines.Despite he spent over 30 year studying Russian history but he still doesn't understand Russia and Russians at all.Very pity that he gave wrong impression about my country. Please do not waste your money and time to read this bollocks.

I would recommend the Russian history book from the ‘Very Short Introduction’ series way over this one. ‘A short history of Russia’ is too neutral a title for it. It should be named ‘Why I believe/How Russia never got right a thing’. There is simply no need for such an opinionated/criticizing tone in a book explicitly bearing the word ‘history’, even if all there is to narrate is truly negative. Deeply disappointing.

How do you squeeze 2000 years of history into a small book such as this? Read and you’ll find the answer. A great little book, covering the ‘main’ historical events from Russia’s colourful past. A highly informative, interesting & entertaining book.Buy & enjoy.

I have previously enjoyed Mark’s work on Russia, as someone who is not Russian he has spent a lot of time learning the language and the history. However, although he is often factually correct, he inserts his opinion far too often. For example, let’s say I was a historian of the British Empire, and let’s say that I knew down to the detail everything there is to know about the British Empire, well if I were to write a book on the history of the British Empire, and if I were to selectively use certain facts to paint the worst possible picture of the UK, it’s people, culture, and history, then that would be a perfect equivalent of this book. In summary: Russia is a stupid country that is slow and backwards because it is a melting pot of cultures and ‘there is no ‘Russian’ culture’: even their language is filled with loan words!🫣 Essentially the authors point is only to prove that Russia does not really exist and that Russia’s failures and due to the culture and ethnicity of the people. As if the cultural bastions of the world such as the UK and the US are at all pure or as if that is even an ideal for any culture. Russia is diverse and that’s what makes her such a strong nation. СЛАВА РОССИЯ

Russia is a palimpsest, says the author - a parchment on which previous histories were written, then almost but not quite erased, so the various versions meld into one another. A lovely analogy; but the question of what makes the Russian nation what it is - its apparent addiction to authoritarian rule, its careless brutality to its own citizens - is never fully answered... but then who has the answer? Was it the rule of the Mongols? Or the success of Ivan The Terrible? (If you're wondering why he was 'terrible' this book might help.) Anyway I enjoyed it but should probably read it it again because it is so dense with information.