Modernisation in Russia since 1900

A clear, well sourced history of Russia from the Eastern Slavs and Kievan Rus to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Written by specialists for the Library of Congress, it covers the tsars, the revolutions, Stalin, the Cold War and Gorbachev's reforms.

Library of Congress

A compact overview of Russian history in 26 short chapters, from the early Slavs and the Vikings to Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, the Revolution and the Soviet Union. Ideal as a first read before a longer survey.

Stanford University

How Russia has told its own history, from the dynastic myths of the tsars through Lenin and Stalin to Putin's use of the past. A sharp guide to why history has always been a political tool in Russia.

Wojciech Materski

A historian's reading of modern Russia, from the revolutions of 1917 through Stalin's terror, the Second World War and the early Cold War. It explains how the Soviet state and its social structure were built and what that legacy means for Russia today.

Michal Reiman