A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin

A Library Journal 2020 Title to Watch

Russia's epic and dramatic history told in an accessible, lively, and short form, from Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin via Catherine the Great, the Russian Revolution and the fall of the USSR.

Russia is a country with no natural borders, no single ethnic group, no true central identity. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, it has been subject to invasion by outsiders, from Vikings to Mongols, from Napoleon's French to Hitler's Germans. In order to forge an identity, it has mythologized its past to unite its people and to signal strength to outsiders.

In A Short History of Russia, Mark Galeotti explores the history of this fascinating, glorious, desperate, and exasperating country through two intertwined issues: the way successive influences from beyond its borders have shaped Russia and the way Russians came to terms with this influence, writing and rewriting their past to understand their present and try to influence their future. In turn, this self-invented history has come to affect not just their constant nation-building project, but also their relations with the world.

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"A slim, accessible account of the megacountry." -Kirkus Reviews

"An accessible and illuminating summary of how modern Russia came to be." -Publishers Weekly

"A fantastic read... insightful and leaves the reader wanting more in the best of ways." -Diplomatic Courier

"Terrific - and an amazing achievement to cover so much ground in such a short and wonderfully readable book."-Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads


"Fascinating... One of the most astute political commentators on Putin and modern Russia." -Financial Times


"An informative, perceptive and exhilarating canter through 1,000 tumultuous years." -The Spectator

"Galeotti, being an expert on Russia both historically and in the modern-day, makes some very insightful connections between Putin's Russia and the Russia he has laid out throughout the book." -Medium

"Brilliant and Insightful." -Bookmarc
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Galeotti, honorary professor at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, is one of the foremost Russia watchers today. Based in London, he is a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and senior nonresident fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague. Previously he has been professor of global affairs at New York University, head of the history department at Keele University in the UK, an adviser at the British Foreign Office, and a visiting professor at MGIMO (Moscow) , Charles University (Prague) , and Rutgers (Newark) . A prolific author on Russia and security affairs, he frequently acts as consultant to various government, commercial, and law enforcement agencies.

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