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Revised and expanded, the second edition of this fascinating study surveys the first two centuries of Romanov rule from the foundation of the dynasty by Michael Romanov in 1613 to the accession of Alexander I in 1801.The central theme of the book is the growth of absolutism in Russia throughout these years, and it traces in detail how the Russian variety of what was a contemporary European phenomenon came fully into being. ... Read more

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This book is the first detailed history of the Russian Symbolist movement, which served as the seedbed of Existentialism and Modernism in Russia. It reassesses the symbolists' achievements in the light of modern research, focusing on their literary works. Prose is quoted in English translation and poetry is given in the original Russian with prose translations. There is a valuable bibliography of primary sources and an extensive chronological appendix. This book will fill a long-felt gap for students and teachers of Russian and comparative literature, symbolism, modernism, and pre-revolutionary Russian culture. ... Read more

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"... an imaginative and dispassionate re-examination of the significance of the Mongol Conquest and its aftermath for Russia's historical development." -- Slavic Review

"On all counts Russia and the Golden Horde infuses the subject with fresh insights and interpretations." -- History

"Combining rigorous analysis of the major scholarly findings with his own research, Halperin has produced both a much-needed synthesis and an important original work." -- Library Journal

"Halperin's new book combines sound scholarship and a flair for storytelling that should help publicize this all too unfamiliar tale in the West." -- Virginia Quarterly Review

"It is a seminal work that will be repeatedly cited in the future... " -- The Historian

"... ingenious and highly articulate... " -- Russian Review

Customer Reviews (3)

Poor Introduction to the Subject
What was the impact of the Mongol invasion on Russia? That is the subject of this book. Historians have attempted to answer this question for centuries, and the historiography of the Golden Horde has always been a mixed bag positions. Charles Halperin's belief that an "ideology of silence" limited the impact of the Golden Horde leaves the reader confused as to whether or not Halperin believes that the Mongols had an impact on Russia.

The confusion is a result of Halperin's "defensive" tone throughout the book. Halperin is definitely a revisionist historian whose thesis rubbed off many entrenched Russian historians the wrong way. Halperin's book spends far too much time attempting to discredit previous historical interpretations that have been tested through time. Indeed, the book seems like a long list of historiographical axes to grind.

Furthermore, Halperin's inability to present evidence that suggests that Orthodox Christians had an ideology of silence does not help prove his argument. The lack of primary sources-due to the destruction of limited Mongol writings, as well as the limited written texts of Golden Horde Russia-is not really taken into consideration as to Halperin's argument. Therefore, Halperin's arguments are a variety of "maybe" or "could have" happened events, rather than strong documented interpretations. Halperin himself, despite knowing the limitations of the written record, still encourages readers to "read between the lines" in order to support his argument. However, nowhere does any Russian document state or infer that writers of Russia were in an unified effort of ideological silence. Halperin would want us to assume that each writer of the time was on the same ideological position as the other without ever writing, mentioning or recording it! There is no evidence to support this or Halperin's argument.

Unfortunately, while I don't agree with Halperin's arguments,the book is still used in Universities to introduce students to the Russia and The Golden Horde. In a sense that is the only positive of this book. The historiographical lists throughout the book, and the axes Halperin wants to grind, help provide some knowledge into Mongol Ruled Russia. I would advise that further reading be done to fully appreciate the era, and to make a judgment on Halperin yourselves.

Nice try, but no cigar
There is little here that is not found in more general histories. He thinks that Russian historians have underestimated the Mongol impact on Russia, so specialists may want to check his interpretation. It can be read as a history of the period, but most general histories will work about as well.

Scholarly, detailed, objective
Not a quick read, this book will probably tell you lots more than you wanted to know if you have just a casual interest in the subject.That aside, it covers its subject thoroughly.Analyzing word etymology, documents, and institutions, Halperin shows that the Russians borrowed quite a bit from the Mongols -- and that the 300-year "Tatar Yoke" was far from being a dark age for Russia. One thing that particularly grabbed me: Halperin indicates that pre-conquest Russian scribes attributed nomad raids to punishments from God.So, how did the scribes handle the situation after the conquest, when Christians were under the domination of infidels?By denying the conquest had occurred! ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This lavishly illustrated book is the first in any language to explore fully the vanished world of the Russian country estate. Priscilla Roosevelt brings to life these magnificent aristocratic dwellings, discussing their origins, their design and decoration, the social, family, and cultural life within their walls, and their physical demise after the 1917 revolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful peak at the past!
What a wonderful book! A wonderful peak at a past that will never come again. Chekhov could not have done it any better. I lived in Russia for six years and visited many of these wonderful estates, a hint of the aristocracy and landed gentry life of the 17th and 18th centuries: Ostankino, Kuskovo, Arkhangelskoe, others, so much beauty. Ms. Roosevelt captures the perfect architecture, the colorful gardens, the jeweled ballrooms and theaters. Plus, her writing is not only informative and accurate, but entertaining. You feel like you are looking out from a gilded frame on the painted parlor wall. This book deserves a permanent place in a cultured family's library.

Frederick R. Andresen, Author of "Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia."

A Russian Feast!
Priscilla Roosevelt is a marvelous historian with arare aesthetic sense.Her book on Russian country estates not only explains their appearance in the eighteenth century and their extraordinary development in the nineteenth century, it gives the reader a visual sense of estate architecture and garden design.When I bought this book, I read it straight through.Later, I picked it up, studied various houses that appealed to me, and let my mind wander.Reading this book is a vicarious trip straight into the world of the Russian nobility.No new reader of Tolstoy's War and Peace should tackle that book without first perusing this one!

A wonderful read for anyone and a must for history buffs!
Ms. Roosevelts highly informative and readable text combines with the volumes many photographs and illustrations to bring to life the world of the aristocracy and landed gentry of Russia and those who served them, morethan a century ago.

Ms.Roosevelt's engrossing study takes on this vastsubject with apparent ease and succeeds.

I recommend this book to anyoneat all who is looking for an intersting read. Whether your a history buffor not you're sure to enjoy this book. By the time I had finnished thefirst paragraph I was unable to put it down! ... Read more

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A comprehensive, one-volume account of the Russian Revolution covers every moment, from the end of the nineteenth century to the death of Lenin, and explores how Russian pre-revolution social forces were violently erased and replaced.Amazon.com Review
Written in a narrative style that captures both the scope anddetail of the Russian revolution, Orlando Figes's history is certain tobecome one of the most important contemporary studies of Russia as itwas at thebeginning of the 20th century.With an almost cinematic eye, Figescaptures the broad movements of war and revolution, never losingsight of the individuals whose lives make up his subject.He makesuse of personal papers and personal histories to illustrate theeffects the revolution wrought on a human scale, while providing aconvincing and detailed understanding of the role of workers,peasants, and soldiers in the revolution.He moves deftly from topicssuch as the grand social forces and mass movements that made up therevolution to profiles of key personalities and representativecharacters.

Figes's themes of the Russian revolution as a tragedy for theRussian people as a whole and for the millions of individuals who losttheir lives to the brutal forces it unleashed makesense of events for a new generation of students of Russian history.Sympathy for the charismatic leaders and ideological theorizingregarding Hegelian dialectics and Marxist economics--two hallmarks ofmuch earlier writing on the Russian revolution--are banished fromthese clear-eyed, fair-minded pages of A People's Tragedy.The author's sympathy is squarely with the Russian people.That commitment,together with the benefit of historical hindsight, provides astandpoint Figes take full advantage of in this masterful history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (64)

Excellent Overview of the Events of the Russian Revolution
Figes covers events in Russia from the last years of the Tsar, through the two revolutions of 1917, to the end of the Russian Civil War and the death of Vladimir Lenin.Even though the scope of time covered in this book is 23 years, every major facet of life in Russia during this time is covered, and the players and places are described in detail.

Figes maintains a fairly neutral perspective throughout the book, an apologist to neither the Tsar nor the Communists (though harboring a noticeable preference and remorse for the incompetent Provisional Government ).When he does show some bias, he is never overbearing, and the few opinions that he expresses do not detract in any way from the material.

The Tsar is portrayed as an incompetent and stubborn fool, which I have come away thinking is a fair assessment.Figes gives ample evidence for his conclusions, describing the failure of Nicholas to effectively rule over an inefficient and contradictory government.

His coverage of the 1905 revolution imparts on the reader an intimate understanding of the rage that the common people felt against the Tsar, after his troops opened fire on peaceful strikers in St. Petersburg, killing perhaps hundreds, some of them women and children.Though in the past I had tended to sympathize with the Tsar, I found myself becoming furious with his regime as I read these words, and I came to understand why he was driven out of power.

Figes covers the revolutionary events from February 1917 to October 1917 in such great detail that I kept reminding myself that the provisional government only lasted seven months.So many events occurred in this slice of time that the reader gets the impression that years were passing, rather than days and weeks.So, too, it must have seemed to the people who lived through that time.

The Bolshevik Revolution is covered nearly as well; with Lenin, Trotsky, and other major players given due attention.The counter-revolutionaries are given almost equal treatment, and the clash of the various factions in the civil war makes a fascinating read.

Overall, A People's Tragedy give the reader an intimate understanding of the Russian Revolution written in an entertaining style.

Outstanding
I've read this book twice and no doubt will read it again. This is a rare book in that it is scholarly, yet written in an absorbing style. Thus it is certainly appropriate as a college text while also being what one would call a popular history book. This book provides a broad detailed overview of the political, economic and social turmoil inciting the revolutions of 1905 and especially 1917 along with the brutal Civil War. The ineptness and pathetic incompetance of the Tsar, the effects of the Russian military failures in the world war, the fatal indecisiveness of the Provisional Government and the seizure and consolidation of power by Lenin and the Communists are detailed with vivid dramatic descriptions of the tumultuous events and personalities involved. The Civil War period is also described with an analyses as to why the Bolsheviks, at one time seemingly on the verge of collapse, totally defeated the Whites. That these events were a time of great brutality and massive suffering with over 2 million deaths indeed makes this period a "Tragedy". This is the best single volume ever written about the Russian Revolution.

Let a Russian Judge.
Let a Russian Judge. Who is the author to make judgments about Russian political culture? I do not think of Figes' work as written by a professional historian, regardless of his degrees and academic posts. For, rather than history of the revolution, his work is journalistic and imaginative at best. The book will appeal only to these who are not familiar with Russian history. The book's treatment of events is frivolous. The usage of primary materials is highly selective and tendentious. The information the author introduces about Russian peasants before and after 1917 is, to say the least, inadequate. For one example, on page 96 the author writes, "[i]t is difficult to say where this barbarism came from -- whether it was culture of the Russian peasants, or the harsh environment in which they lived." To this reader, this "barbarism" is a product of the author's own poorly informed imagination. The author could consult the rich Russian peasants' scholarship to avoid such rude statements. The author reflects tendentious, nearly racist and ugly views about Russian culture. Rather than a story about the Russian revolution, the book illustrates fallacies and prejudices of the Cold War scholarship upon which the author builds his story, not a serious academic work to suggest to students of Russian history today.

A Tour De Force
The author takes the reader on an informative journey through the Russian Revolution. Much of the text is devoted to elaborations, justifications, and explanations of persons and events, and this can be soporific, especially if you aren't caught up on your sleep. But if you forge ahead, you will be well rewarded. Colorful and historically important characters like Nicholas II, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, and Gorky are brought to life with insight, along with the important events they take part in. A large supporting cast, with characters like Alexandra, Rasputin, Kerensky, General Brusilov, and Prince Lvov add to the dramatic saga, highlighted by many tasty anecdotes.

You get only a few, unremarkable maps, but you get many photos, and they are good.

"A People's Tragedy" is a great accomplishment, and a reading of it will enrich you.

Too complex, impracticable
While reading I found myself folding numerous pages to flip back and forth trying to understand information the book is trying to convey. Too complex, too time consuming, too much minutia, too tedious and basically impracticable reading. I still have no understanding of the Russian Revolution so I am searching for another book. ... Read more

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The years of late Stalinism are one of the murkiest periods in Soviet history, best known to us through the voices of Ehrenburg, Khrushchev and Solzhenitsyn. This is a sweeping history of Russia from the end of the war to the Thaw by one of Russia's respected younger historians. Drawing on the resources of newly opened archives as well as the recent outpouring of published diaries and memoirs, Elena Zubkova presents a richly detailed portrayal of the basic conditions of people's lives in Soviet Russia from 1945 to 1957. She brings out the dynamics of postwar popular expectations and the cultural stirrings set in motion by the wartime experience versus the regime's determination to reassert command over territories and populations and the mechanisms of repression. Her interpretation of the period establishes the context for the liberalizing and reformist impulses that surfaced in the post-Stalin succession struggle, characterizing what would be the formative period for a future generation of leaders: Gorbachev, Yeltsin and their contemporaries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fine Telling of Rising From the Ashes!
Elena Zubkova has written a psychological and social profile of Russian society in the twelve years following the end of World War II based on public opinion. As the sub-title aptly suggests, the public mood incased in a barracks mentality hoped for liberalization of government policy, economic reform, the end of food rationing, and perhaps even the abolishment of the collective farm system. Instead, Russian society was met with famine, repression of religion, any hopes of a democratic free market system, and a muffling of literary intellectuals and disappointment. Written chronologically, Zubkova gauges public opinion in its desire for reform from the years immediately following the war until the so-called "Thaw" following the death of Joseph Stalin. The author concludes a constant tug-of-war existed between the government elites, who carefully took into account public opinion and, an insecure society afraid to demand reforms outside the realm of existing socialist policy. The result was a string of what the author refers to as "missed opportunities" (p. 204).                 The author, who earned her PhD at the Institute of Russian History, utilizes a social history approach sprinkled with psychohistory methodologies. Quantitative statistics and economic analysis also plays a vital role in her research. The bulk of Zubkova's evidence, however, comes from the Central Committee Archive in the form of letters and correspondence voicing the public mood. In addition, memoirs, diaries, literary fiction, and interviews are consulted. The result is a comparatively diverse view reminiscent of Sheila Fitzpatrick's work of the 1920's Russian Peasant (Stalin's Peasants, [1994], See my Amazon review).                 In the first part of the book, "Strategies of Survival," Zubkova describes the utter devastation of the Russian countryside and the influx of returning war veterans juxtaposed with masses of displaced persons hoping to salvage worn-torn lives and begin a better future. As with the Great War proceeding, the war became the most monumental experience of a whole generation. It created a duality of what the author calls a "spirit of freedom" mixed with an attitude of "us and them" (p. 19). Finding work, adequate housing and food became immediate problems on an enormous scale and quickly replaced illusionary post-war expectations.                 Part II, "The Illusion of Liberalization" reveals the first appearance of missed opportunities. Zubkova describes how public opinion cried out for the abolishment of the collective farm system and asked why when our people are starving is the government exporting food abroad. Religion, which had been manipulated by the regime for its own purposes, was not gradually being squelched, while intellectuals examined ideas for economic and social reform. Interestingly, one suggestion called for a variance of the free market system only to have the idea deemed subversive towards socialist ideology.                 The third part, "Repression," captures the descent and resistance between 1947 and 1953. Zubkova demonstrates that immediately following the war, Russian society was still encapsulated within a mindset of sacrifice. They revered Stalin as the hero of the Great Patriotic War and justified his allowing the country to sink into famine as total ignorance to the situation of "he knows what he is doing" attitude. As the author explains, the gulf between the war and peacetime began to widen by 1947. Resistance among the scholarly community and youth groups began to materialize. The regime answered with increased arrests and exiles to GULAG, which the author clearly illustrates with disturbing figures.                 The final part of the book examines "The Thaw." Stalin's death revealed to the masses that he was all too human and caused panic and uncertainty for the future. Soon, however, a new public consciousness emerged, absorbed in literature and the inclination for an open society. Zubkova argues, this period of euphoria was short-lived, however, as the GULAG system, expressed in the pen of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, revealed the true nature of Stalinism leading to the creation of the "cult of personality" and the duality of Stalin's persona.                 As Zubkova clearly shows, the war and Stalin evidently left an indelible mark of neuroticism on Russian society. How could the man who led his country to victory over the fascist threat have become the man Khrushchev and others revealed him to be? Zubkova points out, however, as with past generations; the generation of 1945 had historical presidents. This legacy was grounded in hate; an historical emotion that would have to be overcome before the proverbial tug-of-war would end. All-in-all, a fine book, and highly recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

brilliant and powerfully evocative
In these lectures the author opens a whole universe which is unknown to most comtemporary readers.Fascinating discussion of how we recapture the past - is it possible, for example, to arrive at a vision of rural stetllife that is not colored or distorted by the holocaust that followed?TheJewish secular life of Odessa and the institution of the Heder arepoignantly depicted.Not only are the intellectual rewards considerablebut the prose is quite wonderful.I recommend this book highly.

Title misleading, should be for limited audience.
This was a really good book and well worth reading.However, I do not think the book is for everyone, as I think you need to already have some understanding of Russian Jewish life.You may be misled by the title, as Iwas.I thought the author would describe the daily life of the RussianJew, how he lived, what he thought about, what his environment looked like. This he did not do at all.Instead he picked four topicsand comparedhow time, distance or opinion may have colored the historical event.Hecites many examples from newspapers, books, movies, etc.One really goodexample is how American Jewry has romanticized the Cheder.My mother evenhas a picture hanging on the living room wall of a boy getting his eartweaked (hard!) by the Melamed. The author did a very good job ofexplaining how fifty years later we could come to feeling nostalgic overevents such as these.

This is one of the best books I have read!
My stupid teenage cousin got on my computer while I was in the bathroom (I was half finished reviewing this book)and he changed my review and sent it to you.He is an idiot. I don't know what he said, but since he was mad atme about something else, I'm sure it was stupid. I loved this book (as hewell knows), and HE has not read it. He reads comic books. Please don'tpublish the review he sent you. It is a fake. I give the book five stars.

It was not very interesting.
I didn't care for it. The author seemed to have put together a bunch of old lectures and made them into this book. ... Read more

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PRIMITIVE CONDITIONS AND RACES

The topography of a country is to some extent a prophecy of its future.
Had there been no Mississippi coursing for three thousand miles through
the North American Continent, no Ohio and Missouri bisecting it from
east to west, no great inland seas indenting and watering it, no
fertile prairies stretching across its vast areas, how different would
have been the history of our own land.

Russia is the strange product of strange physical conditions.Nature
was not in impetuous mood when she created this greater half of Europe,
nor was she generous, except in the matter of space.She was slow,
sluggish, but inexorable.No volcanic energies threw up rocky ridges
and ramparts in Titanic rage, and then repentantly clothed them with
lovely verdure as in Spain, Italy, and elsewhere.No hungry sea rushed
in and tore her coast into fragments.It would seem to have been just
a cold-blooded experiment in subjecting a vast region to the most
rigorous and least generous conditions possible, leaving it unshielded
alike from Polar winds in winter or scorching heat in summer, divesting
it of beauty and of charm, and then casting this arid, frigid, torpid
land to a branch of the human family as unique as its own habitation;
separating it by natural and almost impassable barriers from civilizing
influences, and in strange isolation leaving it to work out its own
problem of development.

We have only to look on the map at the ragged coast-lines of Greece,
Italy, and the British Isles to realize how powerful a factor the sea
has been in great civilizations.Russia, like a thirsty giant, has for
centuries been struggling to get to the tides which so generously wash
the rest of Europe.During the earlier periods of her history she had
not a foot of seaboard; and even now she possesses only a meager
portion of coast-line for such an extent of territory; one-half of this
being, except for three months in the year, sealed up with ice.

But Russia is deficient in still another essential feature.Every
other European country possesses a mountain system which gives form and
solidity to its structure.She alone has no such system.No skeleton
or backbone gives promise of stability to the dull expanse of plains
through which flow her great lazy rivers, with scarce energy enough to
carry their burdens to the sea.Mountains she has, but she shares them
with her neighbors; and the Carpathians, Caucasus, and Ural are simply
a continuous girdle for a vast inclosure of plateaus of varying
altitudes,[1] and while elsewhere it is the office of great mountain
ranges to nourish, to enrich, and to beautify, in this strange land
they seem designed only to imprison.

It is obvious that in a country so destitute of seaboard, its rivers
must assume an immense importance.The history, the very life of
Russia clusters about its three great rivers.These have been the
arteries which have nourished, and indeed created, this strange empire.
The _Volga_, with its seventy-five mouths emptying into the Caspian
Sea, like a lazy leviathan brought back currents from the Orient; then
the _Dnieper_, flowing into the Black Sea, opened up that communication
with Byzantium which more than anything else has influenced the
character of Russian development; and finally, in comparatively recent
times, the _Neva_ has borne those long-sought civilizing streams from
Western Europe which have made of it a modern state and joined it to
the European family of nations.
... Read more

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The collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic at the end of the 1980’s was conceived as a victory for capitalist democracy. Here, Vincent Barnett provides the first comprehensive account of the historical development of Russian and Soviet economic thought across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and considers its future in the twenty-first century.

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"Situation serious. Anarchy in the capital. Government paralyzed," read a telegram to Russian Czar Nicholas II, 1917. This telegram came too late for Nicholas to prevent the massive revolution that overthrew his dynasty that established the rule of the Communist Soviets in Russia. Under its leaders, Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin, the Communist government was repressive and violent. The government forced people out of their homes, created famines when it confiscated crops to pay for industrialization, and controlled all aspects of Russian life. Millions were executed or sent to work and die in forced labor camps. The Soviet Union supported the rise of Communism in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, engaged in a Cold War (1945-1991) against the United States and Western Europe, and changed world politics forever. ... Read more

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Surveying more than 2,000 years of Russian history, this remarkable atlas presents maps on an extraordinary range of topics. There are insightful examinations of rebellion and exile, famine, the anarchists of Russia, the growth of revolutionary activity before 1917, the Revolution itself, Lenin's return to Russia, and the early years of Communism. Also covered are major modern day topics such as the Cuban missile crisis, relations with China, trade, and military strength. This Third Edition features new maps charting the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, the changing names of Russian cities, the emerging Asian republics, and individuals and institutions of the new Russia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ATLAS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK, A VITAL ADDITION TO MY RUSSIAN COLLECTION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
VERY WELL WRITTEN.

MARK KOSLOSKY
... Read more