Throughout Russian history, it arose in the Rus' in the 9th century AD, experienced feudal divisions and Mongol invasions, and gradually formed a unified Muscovite principality; by the 17th century, it had developed rapidly under the rule of the Romanov dynasty, and in 1721 Peter I signed an edict proclaiming the establishment of the "Russian Empire", and the state's strength became stronger in the 18th century. In the 19th century, Russia truly became a hegemonic empire, one of the european powers. Its rapid rise took only two centuries.
Russia, which straddles the Eurasian continent, with its geographical location, has long played a role in linking the ideas and cultures of the East and the West in the development of human history. Share 10 good books and read a three-dimensional and comprehensive Russia.
Ten good books about Russia
Source | The Commercial Press
01
"Past Events"
[Russian] Lav lianji, ed.; Zhu Huan, Hu Dunwei, translation
The first chronicle of the Kingdom of Ancient Rus was written around the beginning of the 12th century. The basis of most of the surviving Russian chronicles is both a history book and a literary masterpiece. This book is an important cultural heritage of the peoples of the Eastern European plains with the East Slavs as the main body, and it is also a valuable material for the study of the history of the Ancient Rus' state, the history of international relations in Eastern Europe, and the history of the Russian Orthodox Church from the 9th century to the early 12th century.
Based on the Byzantine chronicles, West Slavic and East Slavic literature, official documents, and oral literature, it records the history of the East Slavs and the Rus' state from the 9th century to 1110 AD, highlighting the major historical facts of ancient Rus' such as rurik's claim to the throne and the founding of oleg.
02
Course on Russian History (all five volumes)
[Russian] by Va o Klyuchevsky
The only multi-volume russian history masterpiece written before the October Revolution in Russia from antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century.
This book breaks through the traditional Russian dynastic historiography, is not limited to the study of political history, and is the first to reconstruct the entire history of Russia from the perspective of socio-economic and class relations, emphasizing the decisive role played by geography and colonization in Russian history.
Due to geographical conditions and the invasion of nomadic peoples, the history of Russia is very different from the history of western Europe, and an important feature of Russian history is the absence of feudalism.
03
History of the Rise and Fall of the Golden Horde
[Su] Boris Glekov
by Alexander Yakubowski
Translated by Yu Dajun
The only history of the Golden Horde translated into Chinese. Describes the impact of Mongol rule on the formation of a unified, centralized state in Russia.
The Golden Horde was a Mongol feudal state established by Genghis Khan's eldest son Shuchi and his son Batu through an expedition to the steppes of Southern Russia, which lasted for nearly three hundred years and exerted a crucial influence on the historical development of the region, especially the Rus' region, located in the northern part of its territory.
04
History of the Russian Empire during the reign of Peter the Great
[Fa] by Voltaire; translated by Wu Moxin
Peter the Great ushered in the golden age of the Russian Empire.
Peter the Great is generally considered the greatest emperor in Russian history.
Only two of Russia's successive emperors have been given the title of "Emperor": Peter I and Catherine II. Peter the Great's reforms could not find a second similar example in the history of Russia or even in the history of the world, so earth-shattering, rapid, and influential. It was precisely because of the series of reform measures he implemented that it was continued and inherited by his successors, so that the later Russian Empire was incorporated into the system of developed civilization in Europe, which was comparable to the European countries and contributed to the arrival of the Golden Age.
05
History of the Russian Revolution (all three volumes)
by Lev Trotsky; Translated by Ding Du Ben
The "October Revolution" in Russia is undoubtedly a major event in the history of mankind in the 20th century.
"Teach people how revolutions are prepared, how they develop and how they are victorious."
Lev Trotsky (1879-1940) was one of the leaders of the October Revolution, and the History of the Russian Revolution is an important historical work of his. The book adopts a third-person narrative, and the author tries to describe the course of the revolution itself as objectively and concretely as possible, making it a historical classic about the Russian Revolution.
06
History of Russian Social Thought (three volumes)
[Russian] by Gov. Plekhanov; translated by Sun Jinggong
A comprehensive and systematic understanding of the changes in russian social thought. Plekhanov has the longest and largest masterpiece in his lifetime.
Proceeding from the principle of historical materialism, Plekhanov sorted out in chronological order the major events that occurred in the history of Russian thought, such as the early exploration of Westernization in Russia, the reform of Peter the Great, and the Enlightenment of Catherine II, discussed the main ideas of Kontemir, Lomonosov, Radishev and others, and discussed in detail how the social thought of the Russian Garden was determined by the social productive forces at that time and developed with the development of the productive forces.
07
The Golden Age of Moscow
How the Media Empire Established by the Soviet Union Lost in the Cultural Cold War
By Kristen Roth-Ai; translated by Lan Yinqi and Chen Xia
For the first time, a new cultural perspective is taken at the profound reasons for the eventual defeat of the Soviet Union in the cultural cold war with the United States.
In 1959, Khrushchev visited Hollywood, where he was viciously maligned by some actresses. He showed a very tough attitude: Soviet culture will surely throw mass culture represented by Hollywood into the dustbin of history.
The author describes the basic state of the Soviet radio and television industry and the film industry after World War II and after the 1970s, and explains to the reader the fundamental reasons why Khrushchev's ambition to conceive of Soviet media culture ultimately failed to materialize.
08
Russian Philosophy (Selected Works of Western Philosophy)
Xu Fenglin, eds
Read about the 32 leading thinkers and philosophers in the history of Russian philosophy in the 11th and 21st centuries.
Representative or distinctive passages or fragments were selected from their writings and translated into Chinese, and the life and main points of each Russian philosopher were briefly explained before the translation.
The development of Russian philosophy is divided into four stages in chronological order: (i) historical philosophy and national consciousness in the 1016th century; (ii) Enlightenment and Slavism in the first half of the 1819th century; (iii) the main philosophical ideas of the mid-19th century and early 20th century; and (iv) the many philosophical schools of philosophy in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
09
History of Russian Literature
[French] by deS Milski; translated by Liu Wenfei
More than seventy years of recognized general history of Russian literature.
For a long time, it has been selected as a literature textbook for famous schools in Europe and the United States.
"This is a good history of Russian literature written in all languages, including Russian."
The content covers the process from ancient Russian literature (11th to 17th centuries), through the period of classicism, the era of realism, the rise of aesthetic new ideas, symbolism, and the revival of the novel in 1921. DeSmilski's spicy insights and refined and elegant language made this literary history easy to understand and interesting, influenced and nurtured generations of English studies of Russian literature, and successfully introduced Russian literature to the English language and the entire Western European world.
10
"Reinvigorating Russia
Putin's Foreign Strategy and Foreign Policy
Zuo Fengrong
Analyze and comment on all aspects of Russia's all-round diplomacy and draw a panoramic picture of Putin's diplomacy.
The book systematically discusses the development and changes of Russia's foreign strategy and foreign policy during putin's eight years in power, from Russia's national traditions to Russia's actual foreign policy choices, reveals the essential connection between Russia's unique cultural traditions and Putin's diplomacy, and highlights Russia's energy strategy and energy diplomacy.