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This is a list of the greatest Russian history books. Open to all periods of Russian history.
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4.23 avg rating — 29,899 ratings
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4.33 avg rating — 34,964 ratings
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3.94 avg rating — 108,441 ratings
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4.15 avg rating — 23,113 ratings
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4.29 avg rating — 13,871 ratings
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4.37 avg rating — 5,989 ratings
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4.33 avg rating — 41,637 ratings
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4.24 avg rating — 4,417 ratings
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4.15 avg rating — 13,186 ratings
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4.26 avg rating — 3,191 ratings
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4.02 avg rating — 7,748 ratings
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4.26 avg rating — 5,367 ratings
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4.07 avg rating — 4,511 ratings
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4.07 avg rating — 4,001 ratings
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15

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4.14 avg rating — 1,207 ratings
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4.18 avg rating — 3,901 ratings
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17

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4.08 avg rating — 1,811 ratings
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18

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4.41 avg rating — 4,839 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 1,046 ratings
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20

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4.39 avg rating — 19,941 ratings
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21

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4.33 avg rating — 9,219 ratings
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22

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4.15 avg rating — 901 ratings
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23

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4.02 avg rating — 16,451 ratings
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24

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4.09 avg rating — 3,067 ratings
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25

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3.93 avg rating — 1,341 ratings
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26

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4.10 avg rating — 396 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 624 ratings
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28

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4.19 avg rating — 3,708 ratings
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29

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4.01 avg rating — 4,777 ratings
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30

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4.07 avg rating — 1,894 ratings
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31

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3.94 avg rating — 1,765 ratings
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32

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3.98 avg rating — 125,810 ratings
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33

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4.36 avg rating — 1,129 ratings
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34

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4.17 avg rating — 1,626 ratings
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35

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4.02 avg rating — 1,448 ratings
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36

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4.18 avg rating — 2,755 ratings
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37

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4.29 avg rating — 809 ratings
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38

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3.71 avg rating — 664 ratings
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39

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3.85 avg rating — 1,887 ratings
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40

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3.49 avg rating — 231 ratings
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40

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4.47 avg rating — 1,674 ratings
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42

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3.96 avg rating — 326 ratings
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43

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3.84 avg rating — 1,415 ratings
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44

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4.39 avg rating — 9,424 ratings
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45

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4.16 avg rating — 452 ratings
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46

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4.08 avg rating — 902 ratings
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47

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4.11 avg rating — 935 ratings
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48

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3.97 avg rating — 7,763 ratings
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49

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3.84 avg rating — 580 ratings
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50

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4.11 avg rating — 495 ratings
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51

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3.86 avg rating — 219 ratings
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52

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3.94 avg rating — 1,528 ratings
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53

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4.35 avg rating — 900 ratings
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54

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3.74 avg rating — 2,654 ratings
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55

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4.24 avg rating — 22,006 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 6,236 ratings
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57

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4.61 avg rating — 423 ratings
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58

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3.85 avg rating — 521 ratings
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58

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3.98 avg rating — 814 ratings
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60

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4.16 avg rating — 766 ratings
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61

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4.01 avg rating — 794 ratings
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62

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3.83 avg rating — 4,577 ratings
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63

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3.89 avg rating — 24,529 ratings
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64

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3.94 avg rating — 1,808 ratings
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65

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4.16 avg rating — 399 ratings
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66

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4.19 avg rating — 493 ratings
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67

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4.17 avg rating — 656 ratings
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68

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4.24 avg rating — 63 ratings
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69

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4.04 avg rating — 3,165 ratings
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70

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4.07 avg rating — 535 ratings
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71

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3.92 avg rating — 39 ratings
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72

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4.01 avg rating — 208 ratings
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73

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3.82 avg rating — 728 ratings
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73

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4.54 avg rating — 2,648 ratings
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75

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4.02 avg rating — 229 ratings
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76

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3.88 avg rating — 239 ratings
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77

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4.46 avg rating — 22,163 ratings
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78

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4.20 avg rating — 395 ratings
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79

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4.16 avg rating — 94 ratings
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80

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4.12 avg rating — 508 ratings
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81

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4.35 avg rating — 6,530 ratings
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82

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4.17 avg rating — 367,810 ratings
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83

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3.94 avg rating — 2,435 ratings
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84

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3.75 avg rating — 525 ratings
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85

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4.23 avg rating — 1,975 ratings
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86

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3.67 avg rating — 255 ratings
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87

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4.08 avg rating — 7,326 ratings
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88

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4.44 avg rating — 2,778 ratings
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89

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4.51 avg rating — 39,441 ratings
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90

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4.08 avg rating — 2,043 ratings
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91

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4.14 avg rating — 377 ratings
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92

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4.46 avg rating — 326 ratings
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93

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4.19 avg rating — 1,524 ratings
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94

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4.12 avg rating — 8 ratings
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95

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4.19 avg rating — 7,067 ratings
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96

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3.61 avg rating — 1,145 ratings
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97

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3.94 avg rating — 2,837 ratings
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98

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3.62 avg rating — 112 ratings
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99

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4.35 avg rating — 14,148 ratings
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100

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3.91 avg rating — 2,082 ratings
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326 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Zachary 823 books
20 friends
Kristine 800 books
8 friends
Lianne 5982 books
199 friends
Thom 6022 books
293 friends
Bettie 15681 books
19 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3387 books
851 friends
Lobstergirl 5820 books
157 friends
Morticia 1088 books
7 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-27 of 27 (27 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads The Brothers Karamazov?


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Yes, I'd been wondering about that one, too. What are novels doing on this list anyway?


message 3: by Rachel (new)

Rachel I wouldn't have added them either, but I'm not sure I'd be justified in taking them off--at least a few of them are pretty good sources of history, even if they're not history books.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Zachary, looks like this is a case for input from the list's creator: Were you intending this as a list for nonfiction books only, or are you comfortable with novels being added as well?


message 5: by Zachary (last edited Mar 23, 2011 12:07PM) (new)

Zachary Novels should not apply to this list. This is for historical works of non-fiction only.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads OK - we'll remove them, then.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Removed for being fiction:

Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler
Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman
The Brothers Karamazov, by Feodor Dostoyevsky
Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak
The Sebastopol Sketches, by Leo Tolstoy
The First Circle, by Alexander Solzhenitzyn
Wolves Eat Dogs, by Martin Cruz Smith
We the Living, by Ayn Rand
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
Collected Shorter Fiction, by Leo Tolstoy
Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy, by Leo Tolstoy
Short Fiction, by Leo Tolstoy
The Cossacks and Other Stories, by Leo Tolstoy
The Best Short Stories of Feodor Dostoyevsky, by Feodor Dostoyevsky
The House of the Dead, by Feodor Dostoyevsky
Notes from Underground, by Feodor Dostoyevsky
August 1914, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Red Square, by Martin Cruz Smith
Topaz, by Leon Uris


message 8: by Zachary (new)

Zachary Thank you! Swift and efficient.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads No problem.

Please tell me if I missed anything.


message 10: by Aaron (new)

Aaron I love this list. I actually disagree with removing the fiction books. Many of those books actually have a lot to do with Russian History. My goodness, some of these books helped propel the Russian Revolution. Some of those books describe serfdom and the Russian culture better than many history books can. Anyway, just my opinion.


message 11: by Zachary (last edited Apr 15, 2011 12:04PM) (new)

Zachary Thanks for sharing your point. Indeed, many of these books had great influence, however, they are not history or non-fiction. This list is for history books, not literature or fiction. Please feel free to contribute to a list that accepts fiction or literature, as I believe there are some that already exist. There are also two main groups that deal with discussions on Russian literature.


message 12: by Heidi (new)

Heidi Guide me here! I want to read some Russian history, possibly for a book club. Where do I start? Thanks.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads What area are you interested in? The imperial period, the Soviet Union, cultural history, political history, what?


message 14: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Dec 28, 2012 07:11PM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Looks like this is due for some renewed pruning -- fiction is beginning to creep back in.

ETA: Plus, what are books on the Tudors doing on this list?!


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It's easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 17: by Arunas (new)

Arunas Thanks very much -- I'm new to the site so didn't know. ;-)


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads No problem.


message 19: by Zachary (last edited Feb 11, 2013 11:10AM) (new)

Zachary Themis-Athena,

I completely agree that we need to weed out works of fiction. I went through and removed a handful. If you see any that I have overlooked please let me know.

Kindly,
Zach


Themis-Athena wrote: "Looks like this is due for some renewed pruning -- fiction is beginning to creep back in.

ETA: Plus, what are books on the Tudors doing on this list?!"



message 20: by Bettie (new)

Bettie The White Guard is fiction


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads As is Russka, by Edward Rutherfurd (currently #89).


message 22: by Zachary (new)

Zachary Susanna,

Thanks. Deleted.

Zach


Susanna wrote: "As is Russka, by Edward Rutherfurd (currently #89)."


message 23: by Andy (new)

Andy The best one is "And Quiet Flows the Don". As Russian, I can say that it is about Russia and Russian soul... Touching, hard, monumental... Cannot stop reading...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679...


message 24: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I saw some fiction - Taras Bulba by Gogol @78, saw something by Pushkin a bit later...


message 25: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Lobstergirl wrote: "I saw some fiction - Taras Bulba by Gogol @78, saw something by Pushkin a bit later..."

I deleted these plus several other novels.


message 26: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Title change reverted. We know this is a nonfiction-only list, because it says "History" right there in the title.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads This librarian is getting very annoying with this stunt.


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