Russia and the Russians: A History

To demonstrate that Russia's recent political and socioeconomic problems do not mean that she ""need no longer be taken seriously... as threat or as potential ally,"" Hosking ambitiously and diligently explores the nation's cycles of reform, censorship and expansion from A.D. 626 through the 2000 election of Prime Minister Putin. Hosking (The Awakening of the Soviet Union), professor of Russian history at the University of London, contends that resources stretched thin over a vast, disparate empire have prevented Russia from developing into a cohesive nation. A helpful introduction to Russia's topography and ecology, followed by chronological chapters such as ""Kievan Rus, the Mongols, and the Rise of Muscovy"" and ""Soviet Society Takes Shape,"" with special attention to popular culture, academic trends and influential nonconformist thinkers, afford both survey and specifics. Some readers will find points of contention, as when Hosking reduces the profound impact of agricultural collectivization. For instance, he attributes the great Ukrainian famines of the 1930s, which many historians believe were purposefully exacerbated by the Soviet government, to ""a dry summer"" that yielded ""an exceptionally poor grain harvest,"" without due analysis of other causes. Additionally, Hosking attributes the sharp increase of orphans during the 1930s primarily to civil war, collectivization and urbanization, noting, ""clearly it was also linked to the legislative weakening of the family"" (i.e., the legalization of abortion, civil marriage, divorce and equal property rights between men and women), without providing concrete evidence for this causality. But Hosking's immense knowledge and clear, concise analyses provide ample grist for university students and amateur historians. Illus., maps and tables not seen by PW. (Apr. 20)