The Cambridge History of Russia, Volume 1: From Early Rus to 1689

The Cambridge History of Russia #1

by Maureen Perrie (Editor)

This first volume of the Cambridge History of Russia covers the period from early ('Kievan') Rus' to the start of Peter the Great’s reign in 1689. It surveys the development of Russia through the Mongol invasions to the expansion of the Muscovite state in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and deals with political, social, economic and cultural issues under the Riurikid and early Romanov rulers. The volume is organised on a primarily chronological basis, but a number of general themes are also addressed, including the bases of political legitimacy; law and society; the interactions of Russians and non-Russians; and the relationship of the state with the Orthodox Church. The international team of authors incorporates the latest Russian and Western scholarship and offers an authoritative new account of the formative 'pre-Petrine' period of Russian history, before the process of Europeanisation had made a significant impact on society and culture.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, Medieval

800 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 2006

About the author

Maureen Perrie is Professor Emeritus of Russian History at the University of Birmingham, and a lecturer in Russian History at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm coming at Volume 1 and 2 of this set from a 'Big History' perspective - that is, I'm interested in how the geographical unit of modern day Russia evolved economically, culturally, and politically over time, prior to the Soviet era. And yet at the same time I'm also interested in the minutiae of these phenomena.

And that's what the Cambridge Histories do so well - they're both extensive AND comprehensive. So you get a good look at the big picture, but also the finer details of those larger elements. The end result is that while reading almost any instance of a Cambridge history you come away with a much greater understanding of the subject than you had going in.

While reading this specific edition I can't pick out much that differs from the other Cambridge histories I've read, except for the subject matter itself. So generally, if you want a great overview of the period / geographical area, and can get your hands on a copy it will definitely be worth your time.

To respond to one other review of this book, from Sage, the text does lack a detailed analysis of the church in the social sphere, although I suspect that this was done in the name of brevity, and to avoid becoming a polemic. In other words, the book hasn't drilled down quite that far, and has attempted to stay apolitical.

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

A survey of the state of research into the history of pre-Petrine Rus'/Muscovy/Russia. Necessarily a bird's eye view, but at least studies written in a modern language are easier to comprehend than Russian-language ones which dwell on intricacies of language and terminology (and most Russian books would not translate 12th century texts). All chapters read as individual works and use some variety of approaches, but the overall picture also forms.

[Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. On one hand, this is a brave attempt to scrounge every bit of known history from a mostly preliterate, entirely feudal period that left almost no historical surviving record, because wood rots. On the other, I've been so well trained to interrogate race and gender that the general handwaving of "indigenous peoples" and "multi-ethnic society" raises all the questions (and alarm bells), while the women are glaringly absent. Likewise with the question of how an entire populace goes hundreds of years without the freedom to travel at will. Likewise with slavery and serfdom. (Where are the rebellions against the tiny oligarchy? Oh wait. The Church. Bad serfs and slaves go to hell, don't they? Sorry, I'm just more interested in the brainwashing of the peasantry than in internal Orthodox politics. But that is not this book.)

[Illia R · Rating 1 out of 5]

Early Rus has nothing to do with Russia