Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present (European Nations) - Hardcover

Borrero, Mauricio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816044546 ISBN 13: 9780816044542

Publisher: Facts on File, 2004

Synopsis

From the Tatars to the KGB, Russia discusses the last several hundred years of Russian history from the Renaissance to the present. A comprehensive reference guide to the history of the world's largest country, this volume covers influential individuals, significant places, important policies, and more. It provides readers with a greater understanding of Russian history and explores various events that have profoundly impacted the development of the country and its people. A narrative history, a chronology, and A-to-Z entries to present information in a variety of useful formats.
Because of its size and recent imperial history, Russia is inhabited by diverse peoples, many with unique cultural identities. The participation of these non-Russian peoples in public life, willingly or unwillingly, and their places of origin have played an important role in the development of Russia. This book reflects the multiethnic character of Russia and the Soviet Union since the 15th century. Special attention to popular culture and youth culture gives this reference added depth, making it a resource for students and general readers of all ages.

About this title

About the Author

Frank J. Coppa is currently professor of European history at St. John's University and director of the university's doctoral program in modern world history.

Reviews

Here, within the bounds of less than 500 pages, readers will find an authoritative reference work distinguished by readability throughout and by wise decision making regarding what information to include and how it might best be presented.

The author, who teaches at St. John's University and oversees Russian reviews for H-Net, has provided five introductory essays offering a concise overview of Russian and Soviet history. These are followed by the main part of the book, the "Historical Dictionary, A-Z," which appears to consist primarily of biographies interspersed with topical entries, such as Futurism; Leningrad, siege of; and Volga River. There are also a chronology and appendixes containing lists of Russian rulers (1462-2004) and 24 historical maps.

Boldface is used in the index to indicate that a topic or person is the subject of a main entry, while Roman type denotes mention or discussion within an entry or in one of the longer essays at the front of the book. A student interested in the dissidents of the late twentieth century will quickly find that Andrei Amalrik, Petr Grigorenko, and Andrei Sakharov are all subjects of alphabetical entries, as are Vladimir Bukovsky, Lev Kopelev, the Medvedev brothers, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, and Andrei Sinyavsky--several of whom do not have entries in Macmillan's four-volume Encyclopedia of Russian History [RBB My 15 04]. To omit Yuri Daniel and others from the focused attention of individual entries only reflects the limits made necessary by the scope of a general reference and in no way detracts from the overall quality of this volume in Facts On File's European Nations series. It is a splendid resource, which is designed to serve the needs of students (from the ninth grade up) as well as academic specialists and general readers. Harold Cordry
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Facts on File
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0816044546
• ISBN 13: 9780816044542
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 497