A History of Russia

A History of Russia

by George Vernadsky

Generally recognized as the standard one-volume history of Russia, this monumental work describes Russia's growth from the times of the nomadic tribes to the Cold War & examines the social, religious & cultural as well as the political & economic aspects of Russian civilization.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

George Vernadsky was a Russian Empire-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history.

Reviews

[Terry Tse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best one volume history of Russia I ever read, even though it is a little dated. It is written by a renown Russian emigre who taught at Yale. Here Russian history is presented in Russian terms, and not as a failed Western democracy in similar titles by British or American authors. The author examines the complex process of formation - of a people, of a nation and of a civilizational order quite distinct from the West. We see how the Russian character is slowly forged by centuries of interactions with peoples from the Steppes, and how the institution of serfdom slowly ossified as a measure by the nobles to countervail Tsarist power, rather than an evil invention by an autocrat pontificating at the top.

The parts on the Soviet Union are somewhat inadequate, as the author already left Russia by the time, but this does not affect the integrity of the whole work.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This general history of Russia, used as a text in college, is a competent introduction to the field. The author, covering years through 1966 in this edition, is prejudiced against the Soviet period.
Upon entering Grinnell College I enrolled in a two-semester Russian history course, focusing my research on reform movements prior to the Bolshevik revolution. The teacher, Greg Guroff, was the most demanding of my college career in terms of how much he required us to write. Twenty pages a week was normal.
In reaction to this, one of the upperclassmen produced an almost one hundred page paper for his weekly assignment (others helped with the typing). Guroff took it with a quickly suppressed raising of an eyebrow, ultimately giving the thing an A-. Doubtless, he was aware of the implied critique, but I don't recall it making any difference in our workload.
This is not the text we used, but it was recommended in the syllabus. The prospect of more classes with Guroff if I continued on in Russian history prompted me in other directions, but the interest in Russia continued. Upon graduation, when I finally had time for such things again, I got around to reading some of the works he had recommended.
Guroff himself went on to the U.S. State Department...

[Ron Me]

It's rare to come across a history book with so many problems. The history of Russia through the Mongols is inadequately covered. The history under the early Czars is focused in a weird way exclusively on the peasantry. The later Czarist history has the same, but adds in a huge amount of detail on names and places, with little analysis; reminded me of 'history' in school, rather than real History. The Communist section, if written today, would be called a white-wash of the criminals, but since the book was written in 1947, perhaps the author just had failure to believe that any country could lie so systematically---though you might think Germany would have tipped him off. Don't read this.

[Kevin Fitzmaurice]

A good, comprehensive survey history that would have benefitted greatly from many more and better illustrative maps, placed at key points in the narrative. The dizzying blizzard of kahanates and obsolete place names created mighty confusion for this reader, despite his continuous recourse to the almighty Wikipedia and Google search tools.

[Kathryn]

I'm going to commit the unpardonable--comment on a book without having read more than one page. However, the page I turned to claimed that the kulaks were "lazy" and that Stalin was perfectly justified in starving them via his merciless collectivization program. Sorry, the kulaks were hard workers and Stalin was a murderous tyrant. I picked this up immediately after reading Victor Kravchenko's I Choose Freedom which provides a close-up on the horrors of collectivization, so I wasn't in the mood for whitewash.

(The edition I read was copyrighted 1953.)

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting history, covering from ancient Russia all the way to the Soviet Union. Saying that, the entire second half of the book covers only the 19th and 20th centuries, so I would have liked more time spent on earlier Russia. But for those interested in Russia who don't mind a bit of dry writing, I would recommend this book!

[A P · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of the Russian people, in as far as that is possible, which helps very much in understanding the country itself. Although he is too lenient to the soviets, it is to be expected since at the time of writing the extend of their atrocities had not been documented. Overall, a splendid book that I would recommend for anyone interested in Russian history.

[Lili Kyurkchiyska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Първите глави доста ме объркаха, тъй като (по дяволите!) учим твърде слабо руска история, какво остава за средновековния период. Последните глави (тези за Съветския съюз) пък понаредиха малко кашата в представите ми. И все пак ми е чудно откъде точно взема статистическите си данни за последния период.
The first few chapters confused me a bit because (for God's sake) we've studied too little russian history, what remains about the Middle ages. The last few chapters (the ones about the Soviet Union) on other side brought order in my views. But anyway I'm wondering where he took the statistical data about the later.

[Frederick Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, clear readable history and it or something like it should be on everyone's reading list. I admit I was pretty slow in seeing that "John the Dread" was the same person as "Ivan the Terrible"

[Yvonne Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before you travel in a country; know more about it. This is a good one for Russia in one volume

[John Cairns · Rating 3 out of 5]

What struck me was how far out were Pares' predictions - not that that would impair his history which would be based on evidence and his interpretation of it, valid enough.

[Brian Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is very informative of Russia's History. It is a worthwhile read if you are interested in Russia or you are a history buff. I may need to reread it to give a more detailed review.

[Nardaj]

it's good idea