Preface Introduction: Geopolitics, Ecology, and National Character I. Pre-Imperial Rus and the Beginnings of Empire 1. Kievan Rus, the Mongols, and the Rise of Muscovy 2. Ivan IV and the Expansion of Muscovy II. The Troubled Building of Empire 3. The Turbulent Seventeenth Century 4. Peter the Great and Europeanization III. Russia as European Empire 5. State and Society in the Eighteenth Century 6. The Reigns of Paul, Alexander I, and Nicholas I IV. Imperial Crisis 7. Alexander II's Uncertain Reforms 9. The Rise of Nationalism V. Revolution and Utopia 9. Social Change and Revolution 10. War and Revolution 11. Social Transformation and Terror 12. Soviet Society Takes Shape VI. The Decline and Fall of Utopia 13. Recovery and Cold War 14. Soviet Society under "Developed Socialism" 15. From Perestroika to Russian Federation Chronology Notes Index
A book intended for a general educated audience and students, a survey of the entire course of Russian history. Hosking is up on the current literature and is invariably judicious in dealing with historiographical controversies. -- Terence Emmons, Stanford University Hosking's book has comprehensive sweep and a clear writing style. It is filled with judicious appraisals of a number of critical historical issues. A book of vast erudition written by an eminently qualified scholar, it is much-needed. -- Martin Miller, Duke University
Geoffrey Hosking is retired Professor of Russian History at the University College London.
Hosking...offers a comprehensive survey from the beginnings of Kievan Rus through Russia's recent independence, emphasizing the impact of relations between Russians and non-Russians...This book's strength lies in its revealing Russia's continuities. The result compares favorably with some of the best Russian histories of recent decades while also consolidating new scholarship. Highly recommended. -- Zachary Irwin Library Journal 20010401 Russia's history, more than that of almost any other country, lends itself to passion and polemic...[Hosking] nevertheless attempts...a dispassionate account. Writing with enviable lucidity, he sets out to dispel the current negativeness and general ambivalence that characterizes both Western and native assessments of Russia's role in the world...His general argument is compelling. -- Ronald Grigor Suny New Leader 20010301 For the thousand years of its recorded existence, Russia's history has been as dramatic, tragic, and inspiring as that of any nation, exerting a perennial attraction that cries for the one-volume introduction Hosking is well equipped to provide. His book is especially welcome because he links the Communist era, now that it is over, to the enduring themes of the Russian experience...This is a high-quality overview. -- Gilbert Taylor Booklist 20010415 There...seems to be a general failure to understand Russians on their own terms--as people who, on one hand are no different than the foreigners trying to analyze them and, on the other hand, think and act in ways that baffle outsiders. In other words, Russians behave just like us, except when they don't. Those seeking answers to these mysteries will welcome Geoffrey Hosking's latest work, Russia and the Russians, a massive survey that begins with the Keivan Rus in the ninth century and ends with Vladimir Putin's arrival in the Kremlin in 2000. Mr. Hosking has made an important contribution to those seeking to better understand a country and its people. -- Ron Laurenzo Washington Times 20010522 [A] comprehensive and intelligent survey of Russian history for the general reader...[that follows] the twists and turns of Slavic history from the principalities of Kievan Rus in the late ninth century to the presidency of Boris Yeltsin...[A] most excellent historical survey. The Economist 20010526 Russia and the Russians...is a comprehensive and up-to-date textbook of Russian history...[Hosking] covers every aspect of Russia from the terrain itself, to the tsars, to Russian nationalism, to the Cold War, to Perestroika, to the Russian Federation--and he is thorough. Russia and the Russians is a book for the serious student of history. -- Freda Fuller Coursey Times Record News 20010909 Hosking's narrative is so compellingly and gracefully written and so meticulously researched that the reader will find an abundance of treasure. While more valuable to the general reader than the specialist, the latter will still derive insight from the book. This quality is never better illustrated than in the introduction, where Hosking sets forth "the four salient characteristics" that have "imparted to Russia a paradoxical combination of colossal strength and almost crippling weakness." His treatment of the Nikonian reforms, social transformation and terror during Stalin's collectivization, and Gorbachev's perestroika are similarly stimulating...[Hosking's] insight and expertise provide a learning experience for all levels of reader. -- G. E. Snow Choice 20011201 For the general reader, this book is the King James version of Russian history. -- Robert Legvold Foreign Affairs 20010501
Hosking...offers a comprehensive survey from the beginnings of Kievan Rus through Russia's recent independence, emphasizing the impact of relations between Russians and non-Russians...This book's strength lies in its revealing Russia's continuities. The result compares favorably with some of the best Russian histories of recent decades while also consolidating new scholarship. Highly recommended. -- Zachary Irwin Library Journal 20010401 Russia's history, more than that of almost any other country, lends itself to passion and polemic...[Hosking] nevertheless attempts...a dispassionate account. Writing with enviable lucidity, he sets out to dispel the current negativeness and general ambivalence that characterizes both Western and native assessments of Russia's role in the world...His general argument is compelling. -- Ronald Grigor Suny New Leader 20010301 For the thousand years of its recorded existence, Russia's history has been as dramatic, tragic, and inspiring as that of any nation, exerting a perennial attraction that cries for the one-volume introduction Hosking is well equipped to provide. His book is especially welcome because he links the Communist era, now that it is over, to the enduring themes of the Russian experience...This is a high-quality overview. -- Gilbert Taylor Booklist 20010415 There...seems to be a general failure to understand Russians on their own terms--as people who, on one hand are no different than the foreigners trying to analyze them and, on the other hand, think and act in ways that baffle outsiders. In other words, Russians behave just like us, except when they don't. Those seeking answers to these mysteries will welcome Geoffrey Hosking's latest work, Russia and the Russians, a massive survey that begins with the Keivan Rus in the ninth century and ends with Vladimir Putin's arrival in the Kremlin in 2000. Mr. Hosking has made an important contribution to those seeking to better understand a country and its people. -- Ron Laurenzo Washington Times 20010522 [A] comprehensive and intelligent survey of Russian history for the general reader...[that follows] the twists and turns of Slavic history from the principalities of Kievan Rus in the late ninth century to the presidency of Boris Yeltsin...[A] most excellent historical survey. The Economist 20010526 Russia and the Russians...is a comprehensive and up-to-date textbook of Russian history...[Hosking] covers every aspect of Russia from the terrain itself, to the tsars, to Russian nationalism, to the Cold War, to Perestroika, to the Russian Federation--and he is thorough. Russia and the Russians is a book for the serious student of history. -- Freda Fuller Coursey Times Record News 20010909 Hosking's narrative is so compellingly and gracefully written and so meticulously researched that the reader will find an abundance of treasure. While more valuable to the general reader than the specialist, the latter will still derive insight from the book. This quality is never better illustrated than in the introduction, where Hosking sets forth "the four salient characteristics" that have "imparted to Russia a paradoxical combination of colossal strength and almost crippling weakness." His treatment of the Nikonian reforms, social transformation and terror during Stalin's collectivization, and Gorbachev's perestroika are similarly stimulating...[Hosking's] insight and expertise provide a learning experience for all levels of reader. -- G. E. Snow Choice 20011201 For the general reader, this book is the King James version of Russian history. -- Robert Legvold Foreign Affairs 20010501
To demonstrate that Russia's recent political and socioeconomic problems do not mean that she "need no longer be taken seriously... as threat or as potential ally," Hosking ambitiously and diligently explores the nation's cycles of reform, censorship and expansion from A.D. 626 through the 2000 election of Prime Minister Putin. Hosking (The Awakening of the Soviet Union), professor of Russian history at the University of London, contends that resources stretched thin over a vast, disparate empire have prevented Russia from developing into a cohesive nation. A helpful introduction to Russia's topography and ecology, followed by chronological chapters such as "Kievan Rus, the Mongols, and the Rise of Muscovy" and "Soviet Society Takes Shape," with special attention to popular culture, academic trends and influential nonconformist thinkers, afford both survey and specifics. Some readers will find points of contention, as when Hosking reduces the profound impact of agricultural collectivization. For instance, he attributes the great Ukrainian famines of the 1930s, which many historians believe were purposefully exacerbated by the Soviet government, to "a dry summer" that yielded "an exceptionally poor grain harvest," without due analysis of other causes. Additionally, Hosking attributes the sharp increase of orphans during the 1930s primarily to civil war, collectivization and urbanization, noting, "clearly it was also linked to the legislative weakening of the family" (i.e., the legalization of abortion, civil marriage, divorce and equal property rights between men and women), without providing concrete evidence for this causality. But Hosking's immense knowledge and clear, concise analyses provide ample grist for university students and amateur historians. Illus., maps and tables not seen by PW. (Apr. 20) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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