Author: Philip Longworth

ISBN:  071956204X

Philip Longworth’s history of Russia and the Russians stretches from deep prehistory to the very present. One of the benefits of this approach is that it makes clear just to what extent the ability to recover land and convert it to productive use, particularly in agricultural terms, has been responsible for the patterns of human settlement and state development. Longworth takes as part of his thesis the rise (and possible fall) of the four great empires of the Russian people and, given the essential nature of empires, the attempts of their controllers to enforce the hegemony of the central state over peripheral areas and the people occupying those areas.

The early empires did this in physical and territorial terms, while the later ones, notably the communist empire, also attempted to enforce ideological hegemony not only within its own geographic space but also in satellite states around the world. The Russian empires fell and were interspersed with non-Russian controlled states, most notably by the Mongol hordes but also by other nomadic peoples. The creation of a Russian spirit and state in the modern age, therefore, has been a lengthy process interrupted by alien rule and by alien traditions.

The great figures in Russian history – Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, Lenin inter alia – were concerned to create a unified state with a coherent underlying ideology which rejected that which it had just replaced. This narrative thrust propels the text which, at just over 400 pages, is neither too short to flirt with superficiality nor too long as to invite tedium. Indeed, the text is refreshingly well-written and stimulating and would act as a useful model for the writing of a complete history such as this.

Having provided this background of praise, which is wholeheartedly offered, it might also be observed that this does not mean I always agreed with what the author has to say. While I am prepared to concede that the religious institutions did provide a means of ensuring continuity and coherence while regimes were changing and represented oases of learning and knowledge in a wilderness of often willful ignorance, I am not convinced they were as important as Longworth argues nor as effective in resisting external influence.

He argues, for example, that the destruction of the Russian cities and governance infrastructure resulting from the Mongol domination was not great – although most other analyses differ from this. There will be others who will challenge his treatment of the fall of Communism and the reasons for it, although his approach seems reasonable and coherent. His parting words on Putin are also worthy of consideration in terms of understanding how he came to power as part of the need to continue creating ideology to underpin a strong state in a world in which only market-based institutions appear to be given any credence.

There are few single volume histories of Russia and the Russian people and it would be churlish to carp at such a sustained achievement as this. Any reader with an interest in one of the most important and often baffling countries of the world will benefit from reading this book.

The above review was contributed by: John Walsh PhD:  Professor at Shinawatra International University CLICK TO VIEW  John Walsh's Reviews