Russia's People of Empire: Life Stories from Eurasia, 1500 to the Present

by Stephen M. Norris (Editor), Willard Sunderland (Editor)

A fundamental dimension of the Russian historical experience has been the diversity of its people and cultures, religions and languages, landscapes and economies. For six centuries this diversity was contained within the sprawling territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and it persists today in the entwined states and societies of the former USSR. Russia's People of Empire explores this enduring multicultural world through life stories of 31 individuals―famous and obscure, high born and low, men and women―that illuminate the cross-cultural exchanges at work from the late 1500s to post-Soviet Russia. Working on the scale of a single life, these microhistories shed new light on the multicultural character of the Russian Empire, which both shaped individuals' lives and in turn was shaped by them.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andrew-John Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I read this for a class, it is an intriguing peek into what makes Russia and Russians tick and succeed in making a name for themselves. Many go under the disguise of multi confessional or multi ethnic ties in order to wade through their career ladders and lives. This book of "micro-histories" provides such a delightful insight into an empire that I had a glaring ignorance of in the past. I recommend this to any person that loves international culture as much as I do.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ground-breaking collection of "microhistories" (i.e. short "life and times" biographies) of figures from Russia's imperial past and present. The 31 selections all embody some aspect of the overlapping natures of imperial identities. Some of the choices are famous - Catherine the Great, the German princess who became Russian empress - but most are obscure, or at least not well-known by non-specialists. If you want to understand the many meanings of "Russian," this would be an excellent choice.

[Will Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent portrayal of the many different classes of Russian Society. The book also shows how ethnically diverse the Russian Empire/Soviet Union was from the plains of Moscow to the steppes of the Caucasus.

[Jindřich Zapletal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book presents Russian Empire and Soviet Union as a multicultural unit--an angle which is sometimes sorely missing in textbook treatments. It does it by presenting lives of people who came from abroad or from the periphery of the empire and refashioned themselves as imperial Russians. Or vice versa, Russians whose life took them to the periphery and to the non-Russian multitudes. This is an approach which helped me perceive the human dimension of Russian society as opposed to the brutal geopolitical dimension so often on display.

Most of the people discussed in the book are well-known major figures of Russian politics, business, and art, there are also a couple of charlatans and one farcical character. The chapters are not always biographies in a strict sense--for example, the chapter on Borodin mostly concentrates on how his "Asian" (in fact, European Tartar) heritage is reflected in his music and in his take on the orientalism of the time.

The authors of the chapters are extremely well-regarded academics. The book is not long, and its chapters are independent, allowing for a self-paced study. All in all, what's not to like?