Russia: A History

by Sidney Samuel Harcave

Dust jacket rubbed and edgeworn.

Genres: History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

A specialist in Russian history, Sidney S. Harcave received his BA from the City College of New York and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Samuel N. Harper. During World War II, he became a foreign area specialist for the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service and an analyst for the Office of Strategic Services and the United States Department of State, after which Harcave taught at the University of Wyoming and Champlain College.

Reviews

[Jason Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Very dense. Very thorough account of the history of the Russian people from the 9th century all the way up until 1953 with the death of Joseph Stalin. Russia's role in global politics has greatly been defined by the last 100 years, but this book showed me that even in the 1700 and 1800s, Russia's role in Europe was more significant than most of us realize. Without Russia, most of Europe would be speaking French or German, and without Russia, we wouldn't have some of the greatest composers, and authors to ever walk the earth. My one complaint with this book was the fact that the execution of the Romanovs was no more than a footnote, merely a small detail that resulted from the Russian Revolution, but nonetheless, for a 70+ year old account on Russian history, I was genuinely intrigued.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This general history of Russia presents the structure and development of culture, politics, economics, and the military. The last chapter is outdated, although none of the facts were particularly incorrect since the book was revised in 1956. Overall it gives a good survey of Russian development until 1945. As with any textbook, it is a bit boring for some stretches.