Russia's Empires

by Valerie A. Kivelson, Ronald Grigor Suny Narrated by Daniel Henning

Overview

Russia's Empires analyzes how and why Russia expanded to become the largest country on the globe and how it repeatedly fell under the sway of strong, authoritarian leaders.



Authors Valerie A. Kivelson and Ronald Grigor Suny examine how imperial practices shaped choices and limited alternatives. Using the concept of empire, they look at the ways in which ordinary people imagined their position within a non-democratic polity-whether the Muscovite tsardom or the Soviet Union-and what concessions the rulers had to make, or appear to make, in order to establish their authority and preserve their rule.



Russia's Empires tackles the long history of the region, following the vicissitudes of empire-the absence, the coalescence, and the setbacks of imperial aspirations-across the centuries. The framework of empire allows the authors to address pressing questions of how various forms of non-democratic governance managed to succeed and survive, or, alternatively, what caused them to collapse and disappear. Studying Russia's extensive history in an imperial guise encourages students to pay attention to forms of inclusion, displays of reciprocity, and manifestations of ideology that might otherwise go unnoted, overlooked under the bleak record of coercion and oppression that so often characterizes ideas about Russia.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Original, authoritative, and beautifully illustrated—no other short survey engages Russia's remarkable history of diversity as fully and effectively as Russia's Empires. This should become the go-to text for college courses. An impressive achievement."—Willard Sunderland, University of Cincinnati

"In this remarkable work, two of the leading historians of the 'imperial turn' have drawn on the past quarter-century of historical work and produced the most readable and insightful single volume of Russian history to date. Kivelson and Suny reveal how Russia's empires functioned as polities by employing not just coercive power but discursive power. In doing so, they illuminate how Russia also became an 'imperial nation,' one where national and imperial policies developed simultaneously yet frequently produced tensions. Russia's Empires is historical synthesis at its finest."—Stephen M. Norris, Miami University

"Kivelson and Suny give us a concise and elegant new way to think about the development of Russia as an enormously complex multi-ethnic, multi-religious Eurasian empire over the course of its 1,000-year history."—Shoshana Keller, Hamilton College

"Russia's Empires provides an elegant, stimulating, and comprehensive account of Russian history, placing the management of imperial diversity at the heart of the narrative. It is both readable and rigorous, and should help to introduce a new generation of students to the many fascinations of Russia's imperial past and present."—Alexander Stephen Morrison, Nazarbayev University

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175204873
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,187,122

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