Russia: What Everyone Needs to KnowR

by Timothy J. Colton

Today's Russia, also known as the Russian Federation, is often viewed as less powerful than the Soviet Union of the past. When stacked against other major nations in the present, however, the new Russia is a formidable if flawed What Everyone Needs to Know® provides fundamental information about the origins, evolution, and current affairs of the Russian state and society. The story begins with Russia's geographic endowment, proceeds through its experiences as a kingdom and empire, and continues through the USSR's three-quarters of a century, and finally the shocking breakup of that regime a generation ago. Chapters on the failed attempt to reform Communism under Mikhail Gorbachev, the halting steps toward democratization under Boris Yeltsin, and the entrenchment of central controls under Vladimir Putin bring the reader into the contemporary scene and to headline-grabbing events such as Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and its military intervention in Syria. Drawing on trends within Russia and on ratings and rankings compiled by international organizations, Colton discusses the challenges facing the country--ranging from economic recession to demographic stress, political stagnation, and overextension in foreign policy--and to the realistic options for coping with them.The book shows that, although Russia is not imprisoned by its history, it is heavily influenced by it. Colton illustrates Russia's greatest strength and, ironically, its greatest the ability of its people to adapt themselves to difficult circumstances beyond their immediate control. Russia, as Putin has asserted, will not soon be a second edition of the United States or Britain. But, Colton shows, there are ways in which it could become a better version of itself.

Genres: Russia, Nonfiction, Historical, History

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 8, 2016

Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible, comprehensive and balanced exploration of Russia in its many manifestations, and a valuable help to decoding this often misunderstood and most enigmatic of nations.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite Russia’s size, history and global presence, if the average (non-Russian) person is honest, we know relatively little about the country. This book will change that.

Written in an incredibly easy-to-follow yet informative and engaging style, the author bombards you with a personal briefing about the country, its history, evolution, current affairs and much more. Information is presented in bite-sized, question-and-answer chunks that will either inform you sufficiently or whet your appetite to drill-down on a given point. It is far from an onerous read and you will emerge after reading it significantly better informed! The author has managed to steer a fair, middle course and does not act as a cheerleader-in-disguise for the country nor do all he can to paint a dark, negative picture of it.

The only real negative is the price, which will put this book out of the reach of many curious, general readers. Hopefully, in that case, will the reader be able to find a copy of this book through their library as 74 dollars is a fairly hefty investment in a general read.

This reviewer does not claim to be a Russian expert, yet the questions raised on behalf of the reader appear valid, diverse and interesting and the delivered response provides a salient overview that answers the question in return. It was a pleasant way to spend a couple of evenings in its company!

Autamme.com

[Jane E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 stars is for the second half having nearly abandoned the read at the middle point. The early chapters are very America-centric with nasty reds under the bed and all that. The second half is much more measured and neutral. The book would have been more useful if the author didn't insist on using fancy pants words when simple ones would do and make for an easier read. Occasionally the verbal gymnastics resulted in me losing the meaning entirely which is surely not the objective. Not really recommended but there are things to be learned with a bit of patience. (Purchased at Daunt Bookshop, London, UK)

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timothy J. Colton delivers a balanced review of Russian history and politics from its beginning with the Kievan Rus Federation through modern day. The book is organized into essays dedicated to answering specific questions about the country which would be helpful if one were trying to pack as much knowledge about these specific questions into one's head to be able to answer questions in an oral assessment about the country. Because of this, the book does not flow gracefully which can feel burdensome to the reader.

[Drew Pinkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very helpful primer on an enormous subject matter. Because it is organized by key questions about Russia, do not expect a compelling narrative, theme, or interpretative framework to give the book structure. This does, however, make it helpful to pick up whenever thinking about a particular aspect of Russia. Leans heavy on politics, history, geopolitics, and socioeconomic questions. Light on culture, arts, and literature.

[Neale Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written summary of all the pertinent points to understand modern Russia. The question and answer format works remarkably well.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive but I found the writing style distracting.

[R · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Prolix yet empty. The editing in this series is in need of a serious overhaul. Some books are great (concise, balanced, accessible), some, like this one, are a long waste of time.

[Chris Landry · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those American historians who is so enamoured with market capitalism that he’s incapable of writing about Russia without a hysterical, red scare, McCarthyist slant colouring everything. Such amazing oversights and naked biases on display here that it makes one question the academic rigour of the Ivy League history department that he came from.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of two textbooks I had for my International Relations of Russia class. As a student to professors looking to use this book, I don't recommend it for classroom use. Instead, I recommend Tsygankov's Russian foreign policy.

That being said, it's better to be read on your own, for fun. This is a book meant for the general public to learn about Russia, not for a classroom use. As a textbook, the organization is incredibly hard to follow and quite unhelpful in studying. I wanted it to go in a timeline of Russia's history, but instead it was organized by topic and jumped around constantly. There was a lot of fluff to sift through and I never knew what key points I should take from a chapter. A classmate had difficulties understanding sentences because at times they can get convoluted.

It's funny actually, for our final exam, my professor was going over which notes/chapters/articles/videos/etc to study. He told us he wasn't using anything from the Colton book. Another classmate asked which one (of our two books) was that one, and another classmate replied "the hard one." My professor seemed surprised at this since this one is technically the easier to understand book, but us students understood.

[Lennie Wynker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author made Russia the focus of his academic work and life, yet going from this book, he seems to hate the country he's studying. Besides, good and bad seems to be entirely based on how much politicians want to cooperate with the West and how "liberal" they are. Hence, Yetsin is passionate if misguided while Putin is a brillant sociopath!

Also, the reader often had to accept claims as facts. Nonetheless, for someone like me who isn't too familiar with Russia's history, I guess it isn't a bad book.

[Lachlan]

Read for a class on Russian Politics. Though rich with information, the structure of the book and Colton's horrendous writing style (seriously, put down the thesaurus) prevent it from actually serving as the useful introduction to Soviet and Russian politics that it claims to be.