| Details | | Publication Date: | 1999-04-15 |
| Size | | Length: | 514 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 32.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
Malia examines the last three hundred years of Russian intellectual history and international relations, beginning with the fall of Peter the Great and ending with the fall of the communist state in 1991. The author demonstrates how Russia fits into a cultural continuum with-rather than in opposition to, as is commonly held-the rest of Europe.
Spanning the years from Peter the Great to the fall of the Soviet Union, thisbook gives readers a clear and sweeping view of Russia as an outermost memberin the continuum of European nations.
Industry Reviews
Malia (history, emeritus, Univ. of California, Berkeley; The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991, LJ 4/1/94) uses an intellectual approach to explain the West's evolving perceptions of Russia. In his quest to summarize the length and breadth of his considerable historical knowledge, he uses historical buzzwords and foreign phrases liberally, but his stated purpose "to transcend the presumed polarity between Russia and Europe by proposing a definition of Russia's place within Europe" is never fully realized. Contrast his approach to that of Gregory Freeze in Russia: A History (LJ 5/1/98), and one finds Malia very difficult to navigate. Malia does have his salient moments, as when he describes socialism not as a "descriptive historical term or social-science category; it is a verbal standard raised to mobilize the disaffected and excluded of modern society." An interesting but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to pull European and Russia history together into an intellectual exercise. Harry V. Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. System, Iola
Fox
Malia, an emeritus professor of history at UC-Berkeley, traces Western perceptions of Russia from Peter the Great to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, paying special attention to how the West's view of Russia has shifted not just as a reaction to changes in Russia but to changes within Europe as well. Europe has viewed Russia as either enlightened and progressive (during the reign of Catherine the Great and the early Soviet period) or as despotic and backward (under Nicholas I and Stalin). Malia persuasively argues how these changes in the West's perception of Russia have been due as much to shifts in European politics and thought, such as the revolutions of 1848 and the transformation from the Enlightenment to Romanticism, as to changes within Russia itself. Unfortunately, Malia can be long-winded (an analysis of Hegelian philosophy, for example, delves into much greater detail than necessary), and his writing, which is usually lively and evocative, occasionally lapses into literary pretentiousness. A prologue to the chapter on the Soviet period takes the form of a Greek drama with a cast of Soviet leaders and poets and ends with a twist on Alice in Wonderland: Russia is the Red Queen (or in Malia's words, "Red Khan"), which "really was a kitten, after all." Despite these weaknesses, Malia's comprehensive and accessible history of Russia will interest scholars and general readers alike. (Apr.)
Dirda
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