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A Traveller's History of Russia

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 14 ratings · 1 review

This book provides a comprehensive survey of Russia's tragic and glorious history from pre-history through glasnost and the fall of the Soviet Union right up to the present day. The book begins with prehistoric Russia and its nomadic invaders, and covers the rise of Muscovy with its colorful panopaly of rulers from Ivan Moneybags to Ivan the Terrible, despotism of the Roma...more

Paperback, 331 pages

Published October 1st 2011 by Interlink Books (first published March 2001)

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Jun 12, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel, russia-2012, russia

Although I count myself as more of a tourist than a traveller these days, I do like to know something about the countries that I plan to visit, more than I can get from the usual DK Guides. And so because I’d come across Robert Cole’s excellent and very readable Traveller’s History of Paris, I got hold of a copy of A Traveller’s History of Russia, by Peter Neville in the same series. But it was a bit of a disappointment.

Of course, it’s much easier to write about a tourist-friendly place like Par...more Although I count myself as more of a tourist than a traveller these days, I do like to know something about the countries that I plan to visit, more than I can get from the usual DK Guides. And so because I’d come across Robert Cole’s excellent and very readable Traveller’s History of Paris, I got hold of a copy of A Traveller’s History of Russia, by Peter Neville in the same series. But it was a bit of a disappointment.

Of course, it’s much easier to write about a tourist-friendly place like Paris than it is to write about a vast and complex place that has been hostile to western visitors for most of the twentieth century. In fact, you have to admire any academic or author taking on the Russians as a field to specialise in, because until glasnost the country was difficult to visit without restrictions, and it was obstructionist to anyone trying to find out what was going on. Washington and Paris may have had their occasional peevish moments, but they pale into insignificance compared to the intense hostility between the USSR and the West for most of the past century, when the Cold War threatened the world with nuclear annihilation on more than one occasion. I think that these factors must surely influence the writing of a book like this one.

From the 1917 Revolution until the fall of communism, Russia was ideologically opposed to the West, and the feeling was mutual. But even today there are clashes over spheres of influence as we can see with the unholy alliance of China and Russia over Syria. Russia still seems to be obsessively secretive about its 20th century history because (at the time of writing of this 5th edition in 2006) the country had yet to open its archives, which must have made it tricky for Neville to write about some of its leaders and the politics behind their activities. And as I know from my own bumbling efforts, the Russian language with its idiosyncratic cyrillic alphabet is also a whole lot harder to learn than any of the Romance languages, which makes genuine research even more difficult.

To read the rest of my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/08/05/a-...(less)

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May 18, 2013 Lorena De la pena is currently reading it · review of another edition

Dec 20, 2012 Robert Maguire marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Nov 23, 2012 Jim added it · review of another edition

Shelves: travel, history

Nov 23, 2012 Jillian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nov 04, 2012 Lucy Benson marked it as to-read

Oct 15, 2012 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 29, 2012 Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

May 02, 2012 Kendra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aug 13, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dec 09, 2011 Sally Fouhse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nov 18, 2011 Erin Mayfield marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Sep 10, 2011 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, travel

Dec 10, 2011 Erin O'daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Aug 08, 2011 John added it · review of another edition

Jun 18, 2011 Erin added it

Shelves: non-fiction

Jun 18, 2011 John Galt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reading-2011, geography, history

May 03, 2011 Maria added it · review of another edition

Feb 07, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Nov 18, 2010 Morgan marked it as to-read

Apr 22, 2010 mirbass marked it as to-read

Shelves: historical, non-fiction, russia, 2010, stalled, owned, travel

Feb 25, 2010 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dec 06, 2009 Maureen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sep 11, 2009 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, references, nonfiction

Dec 24, 2008 Crowned Dragon marked it as to-read

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