In a statement made in 1939 about what role the Soviet Union might play in The Second World War Winston Churchill said : “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key”. Eighty five years later the Western world and its leaders are still contending with Russia. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying eastern parts of the country, starting the biggest conflict on European soil since 1945. This war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.
In order to understand Russia, its history, politics and motivations of its leadership, reach for this book edited by Gregory Freeze (Gregory L. Freeze : Northwestern University Research Initiative in Russian Philosophy, Literature, and Religious Thought – Northwestern University). Spanning 632 pages in paperback, this volume takes the story from tenth-century Kiev and Muscovy through empire and revolution to the fall of Communism and the “new order” of the early 21st century. The book takes the form of 15 essays by scholars of Russian history. Maps, a chronology and an excellent bibliography are included.
What emerges is a nation of extremes — of imperial opulence and abject poverty, tyrannical power and subversive resistance, artistic achievement and economic crisis, glittering cities and frozen steppes. A compelling story in its own right, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Russia and its place in the world. The new 3rd edition has been thoroughly updated to take into account developments under Vladimir Putin. The most recent events and coverage can be followed on Reuters news agency here Russia News | Latest Headlines & Stories | Reuters
Understandings from this book will give context to the media headlines coming our way during the next four years of the second Trump Presidency in America, the continuance of the Ukraine war hinging largely, as it does, on the supply of American armaments.
632 pages in Oxford University Press paperback
3rd edition published 2009
ISBN 978-0-19-956041-7
