Russian History

Understanding Russian history is key to understanding Russia and its people. It is a fascinating history, one that has influenced not only eastern Europe, but the entire world.

For those traveling to Russia, reading one of the following books will almost certainly enlighten and enrich your overall experience and shed a bit of light on a place that Winston Churchill once characterized as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma".

	Traveller's History of Russia Paperback: 336 pages Gives a comprehensive survey of the country's past from the earliest times through the era of "perestroika" and the end of the Soviet Union right up to the present day. This handy paperback is fully indexed with a chronology of major events and a gazetteer cross-referenced to the main text. Illustrated with line drawings and historical maps.
	Borderland - A Journey Through the History of Ukraine Paperback: 258 pages This vivid book tells the story of Ukraine by taking the reader there. Talking to peasants and politicians, rabbis and racketeers, dissidents and paramilitaries, survivors of Stalin's famine and of Nazi labor camps, Anna Reid charts Ukraine's tragic past and explores its struggle to build a national future.
	Russia - Land of the Tsars DVD Russia: Land of the Tsars illuminates the imperial Russian history. Filmed on location throughout Russia, enriched by exclusive visits to important sites and museums, and filled with commentary from renowned scholars, this is a kaleidoscopic, captivating portrait of a land that has endured centuries of despair & rebellion, innovation & conflict.
	A People's Tragedy - A History of the Russian Revolution Hardcover: 1024 pages This is a wonderfully sweeping and well written chronological history of the Russian Revolution. Written in a narrative style that captures both the scope and detail of the Revolution, Orlando Figes captures its broad movements, never losing sight of the individuals who lost their lives during this tragic period in Russian history.
	Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia Paperback: 768 pages Orlando Figes (history, Univ. of London; A People's Tragedy) takes the reader on a journey through Russia's rich cultural history. Discover how Russia's artists, writers, musicians, and intellectuals were influenced by a myriad of social and economic events starting from the founding of Rus in the 12th century through the Soviet era. An insightful view of Russian history from a unique perspective.
	A Hunger Most Cruel Paperback: 288 pages The Human Face of the 1932-1933 Terror-Famine in Soviet Ukraine. A Hunger Most Cruel features selected works by three authors whose unflinching honesty and complementary perspectives on the horrific events around which their narratives are constructed create a compelling set of vivid, disturbing, and haunting images of the human toll that this ideologically motivated artificial famine exacted.
	Russia at War 1941-1945 Paperback: 1100 pages Alexander Werth unfolds in startling human terms the story of the Russian people and their leaders in the Soviet conflict with the Nazis from the disasters of the Second World War to the beginnings of the Cold War. This modern classic of Russian history captures every aspect of the grim but heroic Soviet-German war that turned Russia into the most powerful nation in the Old World.
	Chernobyl Record - The Definitive History of the Chernobyl Catastrophe Hardcover: 402 pages Chernobyl Record provides historical scientific record of the events leading up to and the aftermath of Chernobyl. Includes eye-witness records and an extensively illustrated documentary. This is a detailed reference book and a moving account of the events surrounding this horrific tragedy.