Russia by Martin Sixsmith
A 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East

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Synopsis

The history of Russia and its people, from the nation's founding a thousand years ago through the post-Soviet eraRussia is a country of contradictions: a nation that rules by “the iron fist,” with an ingrained tendency to sacrifice the individual for the collectivist cause and yet also a country of cultural refinement and artistic originality. In this riveting history, Martin Sixsmith shows how Russia's complex identity has been formed over a thousand years,... more

The history of Russia and its people, from the nation's founding a thousand years ago through the post-Soviet eraRussia is a country of contradictions: a nation that rules by “the iron fist,” with an ingrained tendency to sacrifice the individual for the collectivist cause and yet also a country of cultural refinement and artistic originality. In this riveting history, Martin Sixsmith shows how Russia's complex identity has been formed over a thousand years, and how it can help us understand its often baffling behavior at home and abroad.Combining in-depth research with his personal experiences as the BBC Moscow correspondent for almost twenty years, Sixsmith tells Russia's full and fascinating story, from its foundation in the last years of the tenth century to the first years of the twenty-first, skillfully tracing the conundrums of modern Russia to their roots in its troubled past. Covering politics, music, literature and art, he explores the myths Russians have created from their history.Marking the twentieth anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex political landscape of Russia and its unique place in the modern world. less

About Martin Sixsmith

MARTIN SIXSMITH is the author of Moscow Coup: The Death of the Soviet System, The Litvinenko File: The True Story of a Death Foretold, and two novels. Educated at Oxford, Harvard, and the Sorbonne, he was the BBC Moscow correspondent for many years.