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The Cossacks
The word "Cossack" conjures up different images to different people. To some, these ruthless riders from the steppes of Asia -- with their spectacular fur hats and flashing sabres -- are the romantic embodiment of dash and daring; to others, they are horsemen from hell -- alternately rebels against the Romanovs and vicious instruments of Tsarist repression. Both images are equally true.
Lavishly illustrated with 135 photographs, paintings, and lithographs, The Cossacks, by career diplomat and noted travel writer John Ure, traces the story of these great warriors from the time of Ivan the Terrible, through the uprisings of the Volga pirate Stenka Razin and the impostor Pugachev, to the harnessing of the Cossack Host to the Tsarist cause. He recounts their fearsome exploits in Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, in the conquest of the Caucasus and in the "Great Game" in Central Asia; how they split in the Russian Revolution between White interventionists and the Red Army; how Hitler lured many of them to turn against Russia during the Second World War, and how Stalin, in turn, persecuted them. And he explodes the long-held theory that the Cossacks are a purely historical phenomenon by detailing present-day activities of Cossacks in Bosnia, Chechnya, and elsewhere.
John Ure brings them vividly to life -- in dramatic words and pictures -- mining the most dramatic stories from the rich vein of Cossack legend and lore. The Cossacks emerge from this narrative in all their brilliant glory: dashing and cruel, unpredictable and immensely brave.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionRussia
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
133 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 8, 2024
Let's start with the pros:
• One of the easiest to read history books I've encountered. Ure does not drag his feet when writing like some authors.
• The basic history and major points of the history of Cossacks are covered.
Aside from that, however, there's several other "basic" Cossack history books I'd sooner recommend over this one for several reasons:
• Despite being written in 1999, this book uses a strangely large amount of outdated terms I expect from something written pre-1960s, not 1999.
• Following that, at many times it seems Ure was not quoting Russian ambitions, but rather agreeing with them. Such as calling Central Asians barbarous and other variations, in need of the civilizations of the Russians (which is not a good look when coupled with him referring to Native Americans as "Red Indians" at one point). Perhaps I read into it wrong, but often it seemed less like an academic third viewpoint explaining what the Russians thought, and more that he too was agreeing with the same colonial justifications.
• This book reads more like it's a personal journal than a piece of academia. While this might make it easier to read, it's very strange to see the term "us" used by the author in reference to the British rather than the more strict academic writing in which one tends to be impersonal.
• Lending to the above, and the issues with that, Ure is ASTOUNDINGLY British. I've read plenty of works written and/or translated from a number of different authors and typically can't tell their country of origin unless the purpose of the book is to have a personal account in it. Ure constantly references niche British history and writers where it was strange to do so, and left me wondering why he consistently did so. Even in the chapters that directly involved the British, he had a tendency to exclusively focus on writing about British figures for several paragraphs at a time, something rarely afforded to any other chapter that involved other non-Russian countries. It was just strange and jarring, especially outside the Great Game chapter.
So, unless you're dying specifically for information regarding Cossack involvement in the Great Game and want a British recap focus in that, I'd say choose another overarching Cossack History book instead.
• One of the easiest to read history books I've encountered. Ure does not drag his feet when writing like some authors.
• The basic history and major points of the history of Cossacks are covered.
Aside from that, however, there's several other "basic" Cossack history books I'd sooner recommend over this one for several reasons:
• Despite being written in 1999, this book uses a strangely large amount of outdated terms I expect from something written pre-1960s, not 1999.
• Following that, at many times it seems Ure was not quoting Russian ambitions, but rather agreeing with them. Such as calling Central Asians barbarous and other variations, in need of the civilizations of the Russians (which is not a good look when coupled with him referring to Native Americans as "Red Indians" at one point). Perhaps I read into it wrong, but often it seemed less like an academic third viewpoint explaining what the Russians thought, and more that he too was agreeing with the same colonial justifications.
• This book reads more like it's a personal journal than a piece of academia. While this might make it easier to read, it's very strange to see the term "us" used by the author in reference to the British rather than the more strict academic writing in which one tends to be impersonal.
• Lending to the above, and the issues with that, Ure is ASTOUNDINGLY British. I've read plenty of works written and/or translated from a number of different authors and typically can't tell their country of origin unless the purpose of the book is to have a personal account in it. Ure constantly references niche British history and writers where it was strange to do so, and left me wondering why he consistently did so. Even in the chapters that directly involved the British, he had a tendency to exclusively focus on writing about British figures for several paragraphs at a time, something rarely afforded to any other chapter that involved other non-Russian countries. It was just strange and jarring, especially outside the Great Game chapter.
So, unless you're dying specifically for information regarding Cossack involvement in the Great Game and want a British recap focus in that, I'd say choose another overarching Cossack History book instead.
June 1, 2018
An engrossing and enlightening work on the Cossacks that is intertwined with the Russian people that is good and bad as they were seen as villains and heros but have their own unique culture.
November 18, 2022
Un libro muy interesante para conocer algo más de este pueblo tradicionalmente guerrero. El libro, además de presentarnos a los cosacos y contarnos quienes son y de donde vienen, repasa su participación el los distintos momentos de la historia de Rusia, desde Iván el Terrible hasta la segunda guerra mundial y el resurgimiento de los cosacos después del comunismo. Se lee bien, si te atrae el título, es una buena opción de matar la curiosidad y aprender algo.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews