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The Britannica Guide to Russia
Russia is a land of superlatives: By far the world's largest country, it extends across the whole of northern Asia and the eastern third of Europe, spanning eleven time zones. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Russia has undergone a radical change from a communist country to a hyper capitalist market of vast wealth and resources. Offering a panoramic view of Russia, and the history of the nation since 1917 as well as the culture, arts, and literature, particular focus is paid to the contemporary nation since the fall of the Berlin Wall, including the rise of the Oligarchs, the presidency of Putin, and the role of Russia in the new world order.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2009
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July 3, 2019
The Britannica Guide to Russia
Introduction by Mary Dejevsky
Published in 2009 by Constable and Robinson, London
Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
ISBN 978-1-84529-921-7
My first trip to Russia was in 1993. It was a difficult time for the people coping with enormous change in all aspects of their lives from 75 years of Communism. It was a time of shortages, drunkenness and crime. My second trip ten years later, in 2007 revealed enormous progress in all aspects of daily living. It was a renaissance, a time of renewal and hope for the future. The Britannica Guide to Russia was printed two years later in 2009, but seems not to be aware of the development and resurgence that had taken place during the 19 years post-Soviet era. Perhaps it was written by people who’d not travelled to Russia . . .
Mary Dejevsky’s, Introduction to The Britannica Guide to Russia was most informative as was the equally well-written Overview.
The book is divided into five (5) parts: 1. Facts & Figures, 2. History. 3. Culture, 4. Russia Today, and 5. Places to Visit: Moscow and St Petersburg are most prominent, then Vladivostok. The Trans-Siberian Railway is included and would be of particular interest to visitors. A brief outline of the stops on the journey are mentioned.
These are followed by several places I think are of little interest to tourists / visitors. Such as: Volgograd (WWII site of Battle of Stalingrad), Omsk (interesting statues and some churches), Novosibirsk (rare tigers at the Zoo), Murmansk on the Barents Sea (there’s an Icebreaker), Perm (Amur tigers and Snow leopards at the Zoo) and Sakhalin Islands (Anton Chekov was born there). This is an extremely curious selection when you consider the many other places of great beauty and interest throughout, this the largest country in the world.
For instance, there is no mention of the wonderful Golden Ring towns, Heritage listed with UNESCO (except for Yaroslavl which gets a mention). The popular holiday resorts of Sochi or The Crimea – Russian since Catherine the Great in 1783, with its beautiful tsarist palaces, Russia fought and won the Crimean War in 1853. Perhaps the publication was limited to its 319 pages . . .
I presumed this to be a scholarly publication so expected information to be correct. However, I make the following criticisms regarding the rest of the book:
p 34 ‘Russian Revolution ‘ousted’ Nicholas II (He was forced to abdicate). ‘A Russian republic was established’ (if you can call Communism a republic – yes, I know they called it USSR but this didn’t happen until five (5) years later in 1922).
p 41, p 42 & p 311 ‘Nicholas and family were sent to Yekaterinburg where they were executed.’ Execution - is the judicially ordered killing of a person. There was no trial. Murder - is the unlawful killing of another human being. Execution-style killing - is a criminal act, where the killer kills at close range a victim held in complete physical control. They were held captive and killed mercilessly at close range – this is documented fact. It was NOT an execution it was a brutal murder of a family and their five children (and their dog!!) with rifles and bayonets!!
p 43 ‘after Nicolas’s abdication most people rejoiced.’ If MOST people rejoiced then why was there a Civil war? Is it possible the insurrection arrived from outside of Russia?
p 191 ‘In the 19th century the Orthodox Church forbade the presence of musical instruments and organs in churches.’ Incorrect statement because there were never any organs or musical instruments in Orthodox churches in any country. This statement rather discredits the authors!!
p 207 – 209 section about the Film industry seems to discredit itself.
p 210 ‘Stalin himself despised Eisenstein because he was an intellectual and a Jew.’ An odd statement because many of Stalin’s associates and ministers were Jewish as were the original revolutionaries (Kakanovich, Zhdanov, Kamenev, Trotsky, Zinoview, Voroshilov, Litvinov etc).
p 248 ‘the percentage of people owning vehicles (private cars) is quite small.’ An odd statement. When I was there in 2007 the biggest social problems were traffic jams – wide thoroughfares and excellent public transport systems but the number of private vehicles on those roads was mind-blowing! It is still a huge problem today.
The progress in 2007 since my first visit in 1993 was astronomical. Most people owned a mobile phone, a huge number travelled overseas for holidays and many were refurbishing their apartments, which they now owned. My friend’s grandchild had a cold, the parents thought nothing of taking the child on holiday to Egypt for some dry air and sunshine. When I was in Florence, Italy - I asked a couple of Russian tourists if they often travelled overseas. They replied ‘No, not often, about 4 or 5 times per year.’
p 257 Everyday Life in modern Russia – the authors were a little confused here. During Soviet era tickets to concerts, ballet, opera was made very cheap so that the common people could freely attend. Russians are fond of literature, museums and the arts. Since 1991 tourists paid a higher ticket price for these venues (they could afford to), but ticket prices for locals remained low so they too, could continue to attend. Today wages have increased to enable the same fee to apply to both locals and visitors.
p 268 spoke of the repression of Jews under Stalin, again a conundrum as most of Stalin’s right hand men were Jewish. Stalin suspected and had executed a huge number of people from all walks of life. The number of people killed during the Stalin era is so great that a final number may never be known.
p 284 icon ‘painters’ incorrect term for such a publication; it should read – iconographers.
p 296 Peter Paul Fortress – ‘tsars and tsarinas buried here except for Peter II and Nicholas II’ is wrong! A most auspicious event took place in 2006 when the remains of Nicholas II and his family were interred there. Dignitaries from all over the world attended. Even accounting for lag-time during publication of this book, an error of this proportion should have been corrected pre-release!!!
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the book because it was out of date even before it hit the bookstores.
Introduction by Mary Dejevsky
Published in 2009 by Constable and Robinson, London
Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
ISBN 978-1-84529-921-7
My first trip to Russia was in 1993. It was a difficult time for the people coping with enormous change in all aspects of their lives from 75 years of Communism. It was a time of shortages, drunkenness and crime. My second trip ten years later, in 2007 revealed enormous progress in all aspects of daily living. It was a renaissance, a time of renewal and hope for the future. The Britannica Guide to Russia was printed two years later in 2009, but seems not to be aware of the development and resurgence that had taken place during the 19 years post-Soviet era. Perhaps it was written by people who’d not travelled to Russia . . .
Mary Dejevsky’s, Introduction to The Britannica Guide to Russia was most informative as was the equally well-written Overview.
The book is divided into five (5) parts: 1. Facts & Figures, 2. History. 3. Culture, 4. Russia Today, and 5. Places to Visit: Moscow and St Petersburg are most prominent, then Vladivostok. The Trans-Siberian Railway is included and would be of particular interest to visitors. A brief outline of the stops on the journey are mentioned.
These are followed by several places I think are of little interest to tourists / visitors. Such as: Volgograd (WWII site of Battle of Stalingrad), Omsk (interesting statues and some churches), Novosibirsk (rare tigers at the Zoo), Murmansk on the Barents Sea (there’s an Icebreaker), Perm (Amur tigers and Snow leopards at the Zoo) and Sakhalin Islands (Anton Chekov was born there). This is an extremely curious selection when you consider the many other places of great beauty and interest throughout, this the largest country in the world.
For instance, there is no mention of the wonderful Golden Ring towns, Heritage listed with UNESCO (except for Yaroslavl which gets a mention). The popular holiday resorts of Sochi or The Crimea – Russian since Catherine the Great in 1783, with its beautiful tsarist palaces, Russia fought and won the Crimean War in 1853. Perhaps the publication was limited to its 319 pages . . .
I presumed this to be a scholarly publication so expected information to be correct. However, I make the following criticisms regarding the rest of the book:
p 34 ‘Russian Revolution ‘ousted’ Nicholas II (He was forced to abdicate). ‘A Russian republic was established’ (if you can call Communism a republic – yes, I know they called it USSR but this didn’t happen until five (5) years later in 1922).
p 41, p 42 & p 311 ‘Nicholas and family were sent to Yekaterinburg where they were executed.’ Execution - is the judicially ordered killing of a person. There was no trial. Murder - is the unlawful killing of another human being. Execution-style killing - is a criminal act, where the killer kills at close range a victim held in complete physical control. They were held captive and killed mercilessly at close range – this is documented fact. It was NOT an execution it was a brutal murder of a family and their five children (and their dog!!) with rifles and bayonets!!
p 43 ‘after Nicolas’s abdication most people rejoiced.’ If MOST people rejoiced then why was there a Civil war? Is it possible the insurrection arrived from outside of Russia?
p 191 ‘In the 19th century the Orthodox Church forbade the presence of musical instruments and organs in churches.’ Incorrect statement because there were never any organs or musical instruments in Orthodox churches in any country. This statement rather discredits the authors!!
p 207 – 209 section about the Film industry seems to discredit itself.
p 210 ‘Stalin himself despised Eisenstein because he was an intellectual and a Jew.’ An odd statement because many of Stalin’s associates and ministers were Jewish as were the original revolutionaries (Kakanovich, Zhdanov, Kamenev, Trotsky, Zinoview, Voroshilov, Litvinov etc).
p 248 ‘the percentage of people owning vehicles (private cars) is quite small.’ An odd statement. When I was there in 2007 the biggest social problems were traffic jams – wide thoroughfares and excellent public transport systems but the number of private vehicles on those roads was mind-blowing! It is still a huge problem today.
The progress in 2007 since my first visit in 1993 was astronomical. Most people owned a mobile phone, a huge number travelled overseas for holidays and many were refurbishing their apartments, which they now owned. My friend’s grandchild had a cold, the parents thought nothing of taking the child on holiday to Egypt for some dry air and sunshine. When I was in Florence, Italy - I asked a couple of Russian tourists if they often travelled overseas. They replied ‘No, not often, about 4 or 5 times per year.’
p 257 Everyday Life in modern Russia – the authors were a little confused here. During Soviet era tickets to concerts, ballet, opera was made very cheap so that the common people could freely attend. Russians are fond of literature, museums and the arts. Since 1991 tourists paid a higher ticket price for these venues (they could afford to), but ticket prices for locals remained low so they too, could continue to attend. Today wages have increased to enable the same fee to apply to both locals and visitors.
p 268 spoke of the repression of Jews under Stalin, again a conundrum as most of Stalin’s right hand men were Jewish. Stalin suspected and had executed a huge number of people from all walks of life. The number of people killed during the Stalin era is so great that a final number may never be known.
p 284 icon ‘painters’ incorrect term for such a publication; it should read – iconographers.
p 296 Peter Paul Fortress – ‘tsars and tsarinas buried here except for Peter II and Nicholas II’ is wrong! A most auspicious event took place in 2006 when the remains of Nicholas II and his family were interred there. Dignitaries from all over the world attended. Even accounting for lag-time during publication of this book, an error of this proportion should have been corrected pre-release!!!
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the book because it was out of date even before it hit the bookstores.
July 22, 2014
This is a book published by the Encyclopaedia Britannica folks and reads much like a compendium of articles drawn from an encyclopaedia would. In some places the articles are extended (as in the history part) and in others they're little more than a prose list of facts (as in the travel section). If you view the book in this way it will make a good deal of sense and be quite useful in giving an overview of Russia up to the end of Putin's first term as President.
There are multiple authors involved but none are listed - only the editor receives credit. A number of black and white photos are provided but they scarcely do justice to the subject.
It's a worthwhile book to have if you wish to keep a handy reference on Russia.
There are multiple authors involved but none are listed - only the editor receives credit. A number of black and white photos are provided but they scarcely do justice to the subject.
It's a worthwhile book to have if you wish to keep a handy reference on Russia.
July 23, 2011
A very good guide to the history of russia including the influences that shaped its political evolution.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews