A Short History of Russia

A Short History

by Mary Platt Parmele

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Russia, Historical, Cultural

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Mary Platt Parmele was an American author and historian.

Mary Platt was born in Albany and educated in New York. Her first marriage was to J. J. Agnew and her second marriage to Theodore W. Parmele. From 1892 she began contributing philosophical articles and short stories to reviews and magazines, and published Kingdom of the Invisible and Christian Science. However, her most successful books were a number of "Short History" books of various countries written in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her "Short History of..." books included France, Russia, England, United States, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

Reviews

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. The reviews do not do it justice as most are referencing the fact there is little mention of 20th century Russia – despite being written in 1907. Perfect book if you want a relatively simple overview of Russian history. Would recommend to anyone to read before contending with some of the great Russian Novelists.

[MF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parmele ends the history at the climax of Russian history. Even from the vantage point of 110 years later the series of events in that history point to one of two likely options: a re-embrace of the west and a democratisation of the governmental system or a turning again to the East and a return to despotic government. Parmele envisions a continuing orientalising of Russia, but imagines that the days of abject inhumanity to the masses were over. The Tzar's cruel massacre of hundreds of innocent and armless civilians at the Winter Palace sadly led not to the end of barbarity but was just a grim foreshadowing of Stalin'a bloody purges which led to more deaths than even Nazism. A very readable introduction to Russian history. I loved it!

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about Russia in a short period. I didn't realize Russia was Christianized in 992! Though, the state of the country now is derivative of what occurred in Medieval Russia. There was lots of attempted and successful regicides and disputes over the throne while the masses were barbaric and enslaved. Their culture and society did not advance with the rest of Europe and even when Alexander II emancipated them, little improved. Anyway, it's little surprise to me the way Russians see their people and the presence of communism, given Russia's history.

[William Dicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting History

Parmele brings us a very interesting and well written history of Russia. This history only runs until 1906, and knowing the outcomes of Russia and the forming of the U. S. S. R., one could understand how things went wrong so quickly and with such devastation! One can only wonder how different the world would've been, had Tsar Nicholas been a man of wisdom, and actually instituted a true democracy. It would've saved tens of millions of lives that were killed by communism.

[Neele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave a thorough overview of russian history (to me anyways, I have no idea if there’s anything missing). I understand the structure but the fact that there was not one consistent timeline confused me at some points.
Definitely recommendable for people who want to get into learning about the development of Russia

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1907, A Short History of Russia details the rise of and expansion of Czarist Russia, focusing mostly on the rulers of Russia and how they shaped the Empire. It does not extend into the history of Soviet Russia at all.

[Teo Swee Wei · Rating 3 out of 5]

What makes this interesting to read is the fact that it was published in 1907, before the fateful events that would take place a decade later.

[Joshua Kojetin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language was a bit flowery but for a book published at the turn of the century it was very good and comprehensive.

[Hela Bergstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed... most of the book but there was a heavy handful of antisemitism toward the end that ruined it for me but that's what I get for reading history books from the early 1900s I guess

[F S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written and informative

[Víctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's face it. My 20th century Spanish school education didn't have much about Russian history in the syllabus. Thus, after spending over three weeks in St Petersburg I felt I lacked certain background knowledge. This was the first, and free, book on Russian history I found in the Kindle store and I'm satisfied after several hours of reading. From Rurik all the way to 1907, when this books was first published, I now know much more than I did before and will hopefully help me moving forward.

Unfortunately this was written at the dawn of the 20th century and thus I'm left with a bit of a gap about the most relevante period, maybe, in the whole history of Russia, but luckily I knew about that period the most.

All in all a good, but not mind-blowing by any means, read.

[Duckpondwithoutducks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an okay overview of the history of Russia.
But the title itself proclaims that it is just a short history, so it is not too indepth.
As it was published in 1907, the Russian Revolution hadn't happened yet, and it was poignant to read at the end:
"who can foresee what will be the end, and what the ultimate destiny of the Empire which had its beginning in a small Slavonic State upon the Dnieper."

One thing that slightly puzzled me was an addendum at the end of the book which was quite lengthy, and didn't seem to be so much about Russia as about the Asian countries that border it.
And it startled me to read this passage that seems so paternalistic and patronizing:
(Speaking of the country of Korea) "With no recognition of a Supreme Being, no sacred book; without temples, or art, or literature, or industries, excepting one or two of a very simple nature, it is extremely difficult for the Western mind to understand what life must mean to this people. That it is a degenerate form of national life which must be either absorbed or effaced seems obvious."
You can't just call a culture degenerate because it is different from your own!
That seemed really insulting to me, and left me with a little bit of a bad taste at the end.

[Laura May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glah, I accidentally deleted my review... I clearly need a nap! Either way, I'm not going to rewrite it in full.
I recommend this book, as it condenses a broad overview of Russian history, from ~800CE until its writing in 1907, into a mere 300-odd pages. The date at which it was written adds to the book in my opinion: firstly, the style is flowery and interesting, rather than using the dry tone adopted by the predominant number of modern history books. Secondly, some of the events in the book were contemporary to the author, so it seems somehow more personal, and more real.
In contrast to some of the other readers, I also enjoyed the supplement, though its placement after the conclusion was odd. It gave an overview of Russia's history in the East, which I found invaluable.

[Jose Luis]

This is a very readable survey of Russian history from around 500 AD through 1905. Parmele's style is conversational and engrossing. I enjoyed the supplement at the end that covers relations with China, Korea, and Japan and some commentary on current events of the time. It really brings into perspective what an exciting time this was in history as the world waited for the fall of the Tsarist government and wondered what would come next for Russia. Of course, we know much more than Parmele could ever anticipate.

Bear in mind that this book was published in the early 20th century.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, readable history from earliest peoples to 1900s. It a good overview although the final chapter, ending with the author's fervent hopes that Russia has reached a tipping point away from barbarism and toward civility by the early 1900s was apparently over optimistic! Lives up to its name and sort of quaint when reading some of the passages.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its oldness is what really makes this book interesting--it was a blast to see late-19th/early-20th century battles that we think of as preludes to WWI presented as being important in their own right. I wish there had been more about Russia's early history, but this was a pretty good overview. I'm interested into diving into more specific books on the topic now.

[Patty Chang · Rating 1 out of 5]

pretty bad, biased, focused o. the personalities of leaders with. little analysis

Wow, pretty poor scholarship. Kind of a gossipy take on the rulers of Russia with very little historical context or analysis. Basically sees the Russian rulers as a bunch of incompetent boobs with the possible exception of Catherine the Great and Peter the Great.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good free read.

In retrospect, perhaps there is no shortcut to Russian history.
Still, this book gave me a quick synopsis of the history of such a complex and vast nation.
I will now catch up on the Bolsheviks as the book that covered hundreds of years stopped suddenly and unexpectedly short.

[Ciprian Bujor · Rating 4 out of 5]

O scurta istorie a Rusiei, publicata în 1907 și cu toate acestea foarte interesanta, actuala și premonitorie, avand în vedere ca printre ultimele fraze autoarea ghicește destinul dinastiei Romanovilor și transformările care au zguduit imperiul țarist. Scrisa într-un stil simplu, cursiv, este o lectura plăcută.

[Tina Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

I enjoyed reading this, it was not at all dry and textbook-ish. I found a lot of the information useful as I had never heard or read the majority of this history during my stint in public school. I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, easy to follow, non politically correct version of Russian history.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

as this was written in 1906 by an American it gives a fascinating look at how opinions of nations such as japan, korea and russia habe drastically altered. an easy read that simply gives info rather than provoking debate.

[Qipin Xue]

?

[Bryan Trinh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gives a good brief history of Russia, sometimes feeling too brief though.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good general background. Finishes before the Revolution.

[Neva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book REALLY stinks. Did anyone edit it?

[Eivind · Rating 2 out of 5]

The past is a foreign country: their history is different from ours.

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple narration of complex history of Russia. In just a few pages the author has managed encapsulate events that led to emergence of Russia as a country and then a Continental and Asian power.