Book Categories
|
Russia: The Once and Future Empire From Pre-History to Putin |
Buy Russia: The Once and Future Empire From Pre-History to Putin here, one of 749 Greenland History books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 86885 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > Greenland History > Item 262
|
Russia: The Once and Future Empire From Pre-History to Putin
|
by Philip Longworth
Sales Rank: 401819
|
List Price: $29.95
$19.77
At Amazon
on 11-2-2008.
|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 416 pages
Published by: St. Martin's PressEdition: 1st Edition November 28, 2006
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 031236041X
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0312360412
Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 1.6 pounds
From Booklist
Territorial expansion and contraction are a salient theme in Russian history, and experienced historian Longworth initiates matters with a description of Russia's climatic extremities and the vagueness of its geographical limits, which have affected empires and peoples in the Russian lands. He hits his narrative stride with Kievan Rus, the first Russian state and cultural vessel of Orthodox Christianity. In terminal decline when extinguished by Mongolian hordes in the 1200s, Kiev was replaced by Mongol-ruled Russian satraps, one of which, the principality of Moscow, acquired preeminence and reclaimed independence. Why is one of the more interesting problems in all Russian history. Longworth readably recounts the role canny and aggressive rulers had in Moscow's rise. And after tracking the dynastic turmoil from which the Romanovs emerged in 1613, Longworth proceeds through Russia's subsequent enlargement with an eye on nationalities enveloped by the process. Their reconciliation or resistance to membership in an empire, punctuated by collapses in 1917 and 1991, informs the balance of Longworth's survey. A highly qualified candidate for the library's national-history shelf. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Product Review
“A gripping and supremely readable book by the doyen of our historians of Russia, who truly knows how to bring this story of tsars and commissars to life. It combines shrewd analysis of Russia’s unique appetite for empire with a wonderful narrative pace and fine scholarship.”---Simon Sebag-Montefiore
“Longworth has a light, informed touch. . . . This attractive account comes from an expert on important topics in more than one century.”---Robert Service, Sunday Times
“A vivid, highly readable style. . . . Russia is a brilliantly ambitious survey of the whole of Russia’s imperial past. It is a battleground that has long been fought upon by historians. . . . Longworth’s gifts of synthesis and selection are especially well displayed. . . . [He has] an eye for essentials and a deep underlying knowledge.”---Lawrence Kelly, Literary Review
“Absorbing. . . . Longworth develops the idea in fascinating detail.”---Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman
“This is not a history of the Soviet Empire or of the Romanov Empire but a history of the expansion and contraction of four Russian empires. . . . This approach . . . tackle[s] a weakness in English-speakers whose countries . . . have expanded but . . . have remained static for some time. Russia is an exception to the rule and one requirements to understand this in order to make sense of the current state of Russia today. . . . Where this great book excels is in its perspective because . . . what we now have is the end of one peculiarly Russian cycle, not the end of Russian history.”---Contemporary Review
“Fascinating and pregnant issues. . . . Longworth thinks and writes briskly . . . [and] his authority is commanding. . . . Above all, it is insight into the quintessence of being Russian that makes this such rewarding reading. . . . As too few other contemporary historians do, Longworth understands the predictive powers of history.”---The Times
Reader Reviews
I may be unfair in awarding Mr. Longworth's book only 3 stars. But what do these ratings mean? His book offers nothing new but it is a well written terse synopsis of Russian history. So I rated it at 3 stars. Others might say 4 stars. Why is it not original? It is mostly based on secondary sources, not new research. The first chapter (claimed as original with some fanfare) delves into pre-history and attempts to find the sources of Russian character (and thus history) in the Russian physical environment. The speculative links between the two are well argued, but the conclusions as to Russian character are very general, thus of little explanatory value in specific history, and are in any case ultimately unprovable. And the book's claim to explain the underlying causes of the periodic rise and fall of Russia also breaks down. Its descriptions make clear that each of the four great "boom and bust" cycles of Russian history had its own reasons for Russia's ascendance and, more particularly, for its decline. So the book's attempts to suggest "gee whiz" originality fail. But that said, this is a solid and elegantly written overview of Russian history if you want to compress eleven hundred years into about 300 pages. The focus of the book is political history, and in particular the waxing and waning of Russian imperial conquests, but Mr. Longworth often offers broader sociological or even climatological explanations for what--underneath--really drove events beyond the surface politics of the moment. That approach does offer real value. So I don't mean to underrate the book. It's not brilliant or terribly original, but it is solid. And if you want a quick read on Russian history, you would do well to purchase it. One complaint, however: Mr. Longworth appears to be among those revisionist historians who put most of the blame for the initiation of the Cold War on the West, in particular the U.S. I think he is totally off base, and his arguments in that regard are thinly argued and even more thinly sourced.
Back To Top
|
Russia: The Once and Future Empire From Pre-History to Putin
Available from Amazon
Price: $19.77
Updated on 11-2-2008.
|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer Russia: The Once and Future Empire From Pre-History to Putin and other related Greenland History Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about Greenland History please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|
|
Search for books at
