Russia: Myths and Realities
by Rodric Braithwaite
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Description
An expert historian and former ambassador to Moscow unlocks fact from fiction to reveal what lies at the root of the Russian story. Churchill remarked that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. That has become an excuse for intellectual laziness. Russia is not all that different from anywhere else. But you have to disentangle the facts from the myths created both by the Russians themselves and by those who dislike them. In this dynamic new history, Rodric show more Braithwaite--Russia expert and former ambassador to Moscow--does exactly that, unpicking fact from fiction to discover what lies at the root of the Russian story. Russia is the largest country in the world, with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Over a thousand years this multifaceted nation of shifting borders has been known as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They, too, omit episodes of national disgrace in favor of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality. Russia is not an enigma, but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and always complicated. show lessTags
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A workman-like history by a well-respected British diplomat, of Russia from the earliest times, through the Rurikid and Romanov dynasties, the Revolution and Soviet rule, the collapse of the Communist state, and its aftermath. Somewhat brief, but the account is also correspondingly easy and accessible.
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Author Information
5+ Works 739 Members
Rodric Braithwaite was based in Moscow from September 1988 to May 1992. He retains business and educational interests in Russia.
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 947.00 — History & geography History of Europe Eastern European Counties and Russia Russian & Slavic History by Period Russia
- LCC
- DK40 .B73 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics – Poland History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics History
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 51
- Popularity
- 594,138
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.38)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 3
