BiblioVault - Books about Modern Russia

A History of Modern Russia

From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin, Revised Edition

Robert Service

Harvard University Press, 2003

Russia had an extraordinary twentieth century, undergoing upheaval and transformation. Updating his acclaimed History of Twentieth-Century Russia through 2002, Robert Service provides a panoramic perspective on a country whose Soviet past encompassed revolution, civil war, mass terror, and two world wars. He shows how seven decades of communist rule, which penetrated every aspect of Soviet life, continue to influence Russia today. This new edition also discusses continuing economic and social difficulties at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the military campaign in Chechnya, and Russia's reduced role on the world stage.

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A History of Modern Russia

From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition

Robert Service

Harvard University Press, 2009

Russia had an extraordinary twentieth century, undergoing upheaval and transformation. Updating his acclaimed History of Modern Russia, Robert Service provides a panoramic perspective on a country whose Soviet past encompassed revolution, civil war, mass terror, and two world wars. He shows how seven decades of communist rule, which penetrated every aspect of Soviet life, continue to influence Russia today. This new edition takes the story from 2002 through the entire presidency of Vladimir Putin to the election of his successor, Dmitri Medvedev.

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Karamzin's Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia

A Translation and Analysis

Richard Pipes

University of Michigan Press, 2005

Russian history was typically studied through liberal or socialist lenses until Richard Pipes first published his translation of Karamzin's Memoir. Almost fifty years later, it is still the only English-language edition of this classic work. Still fresh and readable today, the Memoir-in which Alexander I's state historian elaborates his arguments for a strong Russian state-remains the most accessible introduction to the conservatism of Russia's ancien regime. This annotated translation is a "faithful rendition of the letter and spirit of the original," which not only introduces readers to the sweep of Karamzin's ideas, but also weaves together a fascinating version of Russia's rich history. With a new foreword by Richard Pipes, Karamzin's Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia is a touchstone for anyone interested in Russia's fascinating and turbulent past.

Richard Pipes is Baird Professor of History at Harvard University.

Nikolai M. Karamzin (1766-1826) was a Russian historian, poet, and journalist. He was appointed court historian by Tsar Alexander I.

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Religious Freedom in Modern Russia

Randall A. Poole & Paul W. Werth

University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018

Despite Russia’s religiously diverse population and the strong connection between the Russian state and the Orthodox Church, the problem of religious freedom has been a driving force in the country’s history. This volume gathers leading scholars to provide an extensive exploration of the evolution, experience, and contested meanings of religious freedom in Russia from the early modern period to the present, with a particular focus on the nineteenth century. Addressing different spiritual traditions, clerics and revolutionaries, ideas and lived experience, Religious Freedom in Modern Russia explores the various meanings that religious freedom, toleration, and freedom of conscience had in Russia among nonstate actors.

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Thinking Orthodox in Modern Russia

Culture, History, Context

Edited by Patrick Lally Michelson and Judith Deutsch Kornblatt

University of Wisconsin Press, 2014

Thinking Orthodox in Modern Russia illuminates the significant role of Russian Orthodox thought in shaping the discourse of educated society during the imperial and early Soviet periods. Bringing together an array of scholars, this book demonstrates that Orthodox reflections on spiritual, philosophical, and aesthetic issues of the day informed much of Russia’s intellectual and cultural climate.
Volume editors Patrick Lally Michelson and Judith Deutsch Kornblatt provide a historical overview of Russian Orthodox thought and a critical essay on the current state of scholarship about religious thought in modern Russia. The contributors explore a wide range of topics, including Orthodox claims to a unique religious Enlightenment, contests over authority within the Russian Church, tensions between faith and reason in academic Orthodoxy, the relationship between sacraments and the self, the religious foundations of philosophical and legal categories, and the effect of Orthodox categories in the formation of Russian literature.

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