Bernie Gourley's Reviews > Russian History: A Very Short Introduction

This book will definitely help one better understand what's going on with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even though it was published before those events. But one will learn that Putin is not some entirely novel outlier, but rather Russia has a history of prizing a central strongman, in part to intimidate foreign invaders and in part to keep the lower-level, local strongmen in check. One learns about the accordion history of Russia -- alternate phases of expansion and contraction.

The book covers the period from the Kievan Rus to the early days of the post-Soviet period. Fascinating and insightful.