From: danny@cs.su.oz.au (Danny Yee) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 1995 13:22:52 +1000 Subject: Book Review - A History of Russia title: A History of Russia by: Nicholas V. Riasanovsky publisher: Oxford University Press 1984 subjects: history, Russia other: 692 pages, 4th edition, b&w photographs, bibliography, index Riasanovsky's opus is a fairly straightforward attempt at a comprehensive history of Russia. Separate (and fairly self-contained) sections cover Kievan, Appanage, Muscovite, Imperial and Soviet Russia. The basic structure is a series of roughly chronological chapters covering the political and military history of a period, followed by chapters on its art/architecture/culture, religion, social history, and economics. This is all fairly standard stuff, but Riasanovsky presents a nice balance between the different approaches and his account is eminently readable. The text is plentifully provided with maps and there are twenty four pages of attractive black and white photographs. There is a structured list of suggestions for further reading in addition to the bibliography. The coverage of Soviet Russia is now out of date, of course, with so much in the way of additional information having been revealed during the last decade; if that is what you are chiefly interested in then you will want the recent fifth edition. Since I was most curious about the earlier history, I was happy to find that the mid point of the volume fell as far back as 1800. -- %T A History of Russia %A Nicholas V. Riasanovsky %I Oxford University Press %C Oxford %D 1984 %O hardcover, 4th edition, b&w photographs, bibliography, index %G ISBN 0-19-503361-2 %P xx,692pp,24pp illus %K history, Russia Danny Yee (danny@cs.su.oz.au) 14 April 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------- All book reviews by Danny Yee are available via anonymous FTP ftp.anatomy.su.oz.au in /danny/book-reviews (index INDEX) or URL http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/book-reviews/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (C) Danny Yee 1995 : Comments and criticism welcome -------------------------------------------------------------