Rise of Russia

Great Ages of Man

by Robert Wallace

The editors of Time-Life Books have produced another exciting The Great Ages of Man. The Rise of Russia is brought to you in wonderful detail through vivid photography and engaging, informative text.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Historical, World History, Reference, Russian History

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most North Americans, my knowledge of Russian history is close to zero, and I can't critique the book's accuracy or compare it with other introductory surveys. It covers the period from the Varangian incursions through the reign of Peter the Great.

I did find it very interesting and enjoyable, and surprisingly free from overt bias, given that it was written in the middle of Cold War I, and issued by an ultra-conservative publisher. Wallace appears to be fair-minded and resists demonizing his subject. Anyone seeking non-Russophobic context for current events will find this old but still relevant book surprisingly useful.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a book from an alternate timeline, written in another 1967, one where the Romanovs had never been murdered and Russia never taken down the path of communism and thereby receiving the insanely profound hatred of religiously capitalist Anglosphere.

Instead, what the reader will discover as it makes its way through this book is a series of leaders and the mark they left on their land of Russia, from Kiev to the Pacific, ending with Peter the Great, two centuries before Lenin. Their cruelty and their greatness are discussed in not quite equal measure, but with a level-headedness beyond anything that one might have thought possible at the time.

Most of the important things I've heard about over my life as associated with old Russia are present, from a reference to Baba Yaga to the veche, from the awesomeness of Ivan to the incognito wanderings of Peter, from the eastbound Vikings to the westbound Mongols.

Great pains are taken to remind the reader that the negative perspective of Russia which has predominated across the western half of Europe for almost a thousand years can't be taken at face value, and that given their position between so many ruthless neighbors and in such a frigid land, the tender soul of the Russian necessarily appears rougher to outsiders.

Full of color pictures and illustrations, it was an easy to read overview of the history of Russia and should not be your final book on the subject, but if you're looking for a first book, this should be a good place to start.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Wallace was a staff writer for Time-Life Books. Wallace’s book, which was published in 1967 entitled the Rise of Russia covers the history and culture of Russia from the early history of the Slavic people until the death of Peter the Great in 1725 (176-177). The book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. Wallace’s book is dated, but it is still worth reading if one is interested in the historiography of the history of Russia. It is probably worth remembering that the book was published during the Cold War, before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 (164). The Introduction to The Rise of Russia is written by the American politician W. Averell Harriman, who was a foreign policy advisor to American Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Harriman hopes that Wallace’s Rise of Russia helps Americans better understand the Soviet Union (vii). Even though the book focuses on the history of the Russian people, Wallace stresses that the population of the Soviet Union is diverse (Wallace 11). The book has a beautiful layout, and each chapter is followed by a photo essay. I was quite taken by the photo essay entitled “A Genius of Wood” (41), which shows marvels of Russian woodworking (41-53) including the Church of the Transfiguration on Kizhi Island (41-45). At the end of the book, there is a Timeline. The book, Rise of Russia is readable. Even though it was dated I did not regret spending time reading the book, Rise of Russia.

[Richp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and therefore not comprehensive book, with a lot of pictures. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It is only an introduction, but is likely far better than most, and far more than most in USA ever read.

It covers the period of Russia becoming Russia (800+ AD) to the end of Peter the Great (1725).

[Eric Stutzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

By giving this a 4 star rating, I think it's safe to say I enjoyed this book. I remember having checked this out from the schools library many many years ago, so I thought I'd grab it and read it again. While it is horrendously outdated (mid-sixties!) the historical information was solid, and, making up roughly 99% of the book, easily made up for the outdated information of the "current events." In the United States we learn very little of history outside of our own, and, when we do manage to learn about outsider history, it is usually wars, the British Monarchy or ancient times. This book did exactly what history books are supposed to do, in that it filled in some of the gaps I had regarding the historical subject, in this case Russia, especially that era led by Peter the Great.

[Thắng Công · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sách không dày nhưng đọc chật vật mãi mới xong. Thực sự khó đọc vì rất nhiều thuật ngữ lịch sử, tôn giáo. Bù lại, sách cũng cấp những thông tin rất thú vị, thậm chí là kì quái và khó tin về lịch sử Nga. Hình ảnh rất đẹp, tư liệu tham khảo phong phú, đặc biệt là các ghi chép về Nga của người phương Tây cùng thời. Mình thấy thú vị nhất là cách lí giải tính cách người Nga qua lịch sử trong cuốn sách này.

[Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

En México tenemos un concepto generalizado de los rusos fomentada por el eurocentrismo con el que la historia universal es impartida en nuestras aulas. Este libro ayuda a entender el porqué los rusos son vistos por el mundo entero de esa manera tan peculiar. En lo particular creo que es valioso ver como muchos de los problemas actuales de latinoamérica han estado presentes en la historia de otras naciones y como éstas se han sobrepuesto a ellos.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overview of the history of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, from the emergence of Kievan Rus through to Peter the Great. There are two primary focuses: 1) the influence of key rulers (Ivan the Great, Ivan the Terrible, and Peter the Great especially); 2) the social-cultural development of east Slavic culture, especially the introduction of Christianity. The influences of other civilizations and societies (Scandinavia, Byzantium, the Mongols) are also discussed.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of ground to cover here, so it's obviously pretty breezy. Wish it had carried on a bit more after Peter the Great though.

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good survey of the people who became Russia. I went on to study Russian history in college and this book had an influence on me.