Russian Messianism: Third Rome, Revolution, Communism and After

by Peter Duncan

This is the first book in English for half a century to examine the complexities of Russian messianism, both as a whole and in its interaction with Communism. Peter Duncan considers its Orthodox roots and focuses on Russia's geopolitical experience and situation to explain the endurance of this phenomenon.

Genres: Russia

250 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2000

Reviews

[Bun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very in depth review of the various manifestations(religious, tsarist, populist, communist, nationalist) of Russian messianism. However, the author heavily veers into making normative statements, and the conclusion is largely policy proposals, which is why I've docked it a star.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

While well researched and extremely thorough, Duncan’s book is poorly written in my opinion. I recommend the books for anyone looking for research material but if you simply find the concepts covered in the book interesting I suggest finding another book or set of books.