Books & Literature

Book Review: The Story of Russia, by Orlando Figes

NON-FICTION: Beautifully written and based on a lifetime of scholarship, The Story of Russia is a major and definitive work from the great storyteller of Russian history: sweeping, suspenseful, masterful.

Hard to follow but allows one to unpack some of the stories of Russia, even if just a little.
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Feature image credit: Romanov Collection, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

Orlando Figes is a world-renowned, award-winning author, and leading expert on Russian history. His many works have been translated into over 30 languages.

The Story of Russia is a book designed to demystify Russia, yet it is not solely a narrative of general historical concepts about Russia. Due to the level of detail in the content, the average reader would need to have a connection with Russia already in order to be motivated to continue with the reading of this text, or else have a strong passion in the history or politics of Russia. It is not so detailed as to be a textbook, however it would be a useful adjunct to anyone studying this field.

In addition to the depth of the subject matter, the pages themselves all have a large bottom margin for writing your own notes, and the print is a good size Garamond font for highlighting relevant text. Structurally, it is split into 11 chapters, an introduction, and end notes. The end notes contain multiple references for the reader to continue their learning.

After the initial 10-page-long introduction is Chapter One, which revolves around the origins of Russia. Chapter Two focuses on the impact of the Mongols, and the start of the patrimonial autocracy. Chapter Three discusses the rise of the Tsars, where the will of God starts to become part of the framework upon which the ruling elite determines who should be in charge.

Chapter Four brings in the masses, the difficulties of war, maintaining land, and frontier warfare. Chapter Five details when the West starts to impact Russia, with a focus on Napoleon in the 1800s in Chapter Six. Finally in Chapter Seven, the author focuses on the time when Russia starts to crumble as a large powerful empire, spelling a realignment of boundaries and countries declaring their independence. Chapter Eight details the revolution, and Chapter Nine focuses on the war on the old Russian values versus the new. Chapter 10 explains the concept of the Motherland, and almost a bit of a step back to the old nationalism.

Although Figes does talk about the people of Russia, it is mainly in the context of the effect of the peasant serfdom on their livelihoods (starvation and death), the impact of frontier battles, and the values of different Russian groups: communists, nationalists, those that like/dislike Western influence. Specific figures are also discussed, including Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, and the Romanovs, as is the rewriting of history to suit the government agenda. To draw the reader in, Figes integrates some of these present-day impacts, such as the war in Ukraine.

Reviewed by Rebecca Wu

This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not necessarily of Glam Adelaide.

Distributed by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Released: August 2023
RRP: $32.99

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