I read an earlier edition of this in college for a year-long Russian History class. When I saw this in the bookstore, I realized that I didn't remember a whole lot from the class. So, I have read it again, and since it is an updated version, it discusses more recent history. It was a good overview.

I particularly liked the sections on literature and culture in each of the eras. My TBR for Russia has expanded dramatically.

The version of this book that I wrote was published in the early 1980s, so I am hoping that later versions of the book have improved. Over all this is a very good history of Russia. Riasanovsky focuses on the various forces that interact in the Russian people; the West versus the Slavic heritage, the Orthodox heritage versus Communism, indeed, Russia is a land of contradictions. I would actually give this book two ratings. For its coverage of Russia prior to 1917 I would give it five stars. This is an excellent history of Czarist Russia.

However, for the period since 1917, this book would rate only 3 stars. I'm not sure why this is. Riasanovsky's profound analysis seems to be stulted considerably when he discusses the Soviet Union. He whitewashes the atrocities of the Soviet government considerably. In his discussion of Stalin he barely touches on the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, describing it as an aberration of the implementation of the first five year plan and not what it was, the intentional starving of over 30 million peasants who resisted collectivization. In his treatment of World War II he does not even mention the famous "stab in the back", in which the Red Army invaded Poland at the same time that the Nazi army did, dividing Poland among them. Perhaps Riasanovsky sympathized with the Communists. More likely, he was being prudent for a Russian historian of the 1980s, who depended on the Soviet government for access to the archives and artifacts in the Soviet Union that he needed to do his job. This is why one must utilize post-Soviet materials in order to get a good understanding of Soviet history.

Overall I would recommend this book for students of Russian history.

This is an academic textbook that covers the history of Rus/Russia to approximately 2010. Its covers both classic history but also culture of each time period. The authors are well read and sometimes appear to be unable to strongly favor any point of view. It is less straightforward than Russia and Russians which is a more one opinion work. I enjoyed learning a lot. The only flaw/disappointment was how they dealt with Stalin or rather did not deal with him. From reading this text one would not get the impression of who or what Stalin was.

All and all a good read for anyone wanting an english text that deals with Russian and particularly good are the insights into culture in different time periods.

It's pretty much as surface-level as would be expected based on the premise of covering the entire millennia-spanning history of an enormous landmass, but it's an entertaining and comprehensive flyover.