The Story of Russia

May 1, 2022

Author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling Zealot, religion scholar Aslan resurrects the life of the little-known Howard Baskerville, An American Martyr in Persia who traveled there in the early 1900s, befriending revolutionaries intent on securing democracy and eventually joining them in battle. The Wolfson Prize-winning Figes gives us the history book we need to read now: The Story of Russia, starting with the ancient Rus--Baltic Slavs or Vikings?--and parsing the mythologies that have shaped the country (60,000-copy first printing). Author of the New York Times best-selling "Resistance Quartet," Moorehead offers a portrait of Mussolini's Daughter, who was instrumental in imposing fascism in Italy. A Georgetown professor of history and politics tells the story of his own family, The Sassoons, the Jewish Baghdadi dynasty that built an empire grounded in trade in the 18th through 20th centuries. An award winner in the author's native Spain, Vallejo's Papyrus unearths the fascinating story of books and libraries in the ancient world.

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July 4, 2022
“No other country has reimagined its past so frequently,” writes historian Figes (The Europeans) in this rich and immersive look at how Russia’s national myths are “continuously reconfigured and repurposed to suit its present needs and reimagine its future.” Examining Kievan Rus ruler Grand Prince Vladimir’s baptism into the Eastern Orthodox Church in 988 and Moscow’s emergence, in Russian Orthodox Church doctrine, as the “last true seat of the Christian faith” after the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century, Figes asserts that Russia’s leaders have used these and other legends to rewrite history according to their political agendas. He also details how Catherine the Great supported claims that Russians were descended from Vikings in order to defend autocracy and promote her imperialist ambitions, and traces the mystical notion of the “Russian soul”—“a universal spirit of Christian love and brotherhood innate only in the Russian people, whose providential mission was to save the world from egotism, greed and all the other Western sins”—to Nikolai Gogol’s novel Dead Souls. Figes’s fluid prose (“Nobles gave up Clicquot and Lafite for kvas and vodka, haute cuisine for cabbage soup,” he quips in describing how Russian aristocrats reacted to the French Revolution) keeps the jam-packed narrative from getting bogged down in intricate historical matters. Russophiles will savor this illuminating survey.

August 1, 2022

The divisive Ukraine War and Vladimir Putin's intentions are clarified by Russia's past. Grand Prince Vladimir ("Volodymyr" to Ukrainians) ruled the first iteration of the Russian state, Kievan Rus, founded in 988, which united the modern nations of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. When Putin refers to military actions towards Belarus and Ukraine, his motives are to reunite the lands of Russia lost in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It's also a reinforcement of a long-held reciprocal aristocratic system, where Putin's oligarchs are dependent upon him for their wealth, and he in turn receives their political support. Sadly, these historical justifications for war cannot be verified. Very little contemporary history is recorded and is often skewed to the country of origin. Russia's history is ill-defined, a narrative bent towards the needs of the sitting ruler. Figes (history, Birkbeck Coll., London Univ.; The Europeans) remains an authoritative interpreter of Russian history, distilling complex and disputed facts into an engrossing narrative. Even veteran and informed historians will be edified by this scholarly tome. VERDICT A necessary addition to Russian history collections and required reading for those wanting to understand the dispute over Ukraine.--Jessica A. Bushore

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Starred review from July 1, 2022
An expert on Russia delivers a crucially relevant study of a country that has been continuously "subjected to the vicissitudes of ruling ideologies." Wolfson History Prize winner Figes, one of the world's leading authorities on Russian history and culture, shows how, over centuries, Russian autocrats have manipulated intertwined layers of mythology and history to suit their political and imperial purposes. Regarding current affairs, the author argues convincingly that to understand Putin's aggressive behavior toward Ukraine and other neighboring nations, it is essential to grasp how Russia has come to see itself within the global order, especially in Asia and Europe. Figes emphasizes the intensive push and pull between concepts of East and West since the dubious founding of Kievan Rus, "the first Russian state," circa 980. Russia's geography meant it had few natural boundaries and was vulnerable to invasion--e.g., by the Mongols--and its mere size often required strong, central military control. It was in Moscow's interests to increase its territorial boundaries and keep its neighbors weak, a strategy still seen today. Figes explores the growth of the "patrimonial autocracy" and examines how much of the mechanics of the country's autocracy, bureaucracy, military structure, oligarchy, and corruption were inherited from three centuries of Mongol rule. From Peter the Great to Catherine the Great to Alexander II (the reformer who freed the serfs) and through the Bolsheviks to Stalin: In most cases, everything belonged to the state, and there were few societal institutions to check that power. "This imbalance--between a dominating state and a weak society--has shaped the course of Russian history," writes the author in a meaningful, definitive statement. Today, Putin repudiates any hint of Westernizing influences (Peter the Great) while elevating the Eastern (Kievan Rus, the Orthodox Church). In that, he is reminiscent of Stalin, who recognized the need for patriotic fervor and national myths and symbols to unite and ensure the oppression of the masses. A lucid, astute text that unpacks the myths of Russian history to help explain present-day motivations and actions.

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