To understand what Russia's future holds - to grasp what Putin's regime means for Russia and the world - we need to unravel the ideas and meanings of that history. How the Russians came to tell their story, and to reinvent it as they went along, is a vital aspect of their history, their culture and beliefs. No other country has been so divided over its own past as Russia. 'A valuable, instructive overview' INDEPENDENTįrom the great storyteller of Russia, a spellbinding account of the stories that have shaped the country's past - and how they can inform its present. 'A lucid chronological journey that ably illustrates how narratives from the nation's past have been used to shape its autocratic present' OBSERVER 'If you really want to understand Putin's Russia today, anchored in its past of myths, then you simply have to read Figes's superb account' ANTONY BEEVOR ' excellent short study' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES 'A great historian at the peak of his powers' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE by one of the masters of Russian scholarship' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE 'A magnificent, magisterial thousand year history of Russia. 'The history book you need if you want to understand modern Russia' ANNE APPLEBAUM A 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: Sunday Times

The story of russia figes review