A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition by Robert Service (PDF)

Description

Russia had an extraordinary twentieth century, undergoing upheaval and transformation. Updating his acclaimed History of Modern Russia, Robert Service provides a panoramic perspective on a country whose Soviet past encompassed revolution, civil war, mass terror, and two world wars. He shows how seven decades of communist rule, which penetrated every aspect of Soviet life, continue to influence Russia today. This new edition takes the story from 2002 through the entire presidency of Vladimir Putin to the election of his successor, Dmitri Medvedev.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “A fine book…It is a dizzying tale and Service tells it well; he has none of the ideological baggage that has so often bedeviled Western histories of Russia…A balanced, dispassionate and painstaking account.”―Brian Moynahan, Sunday Times“A remarkable work…It demands to be read.”―Adam Zamoyski, Spectator“Always well-informed and balanced in his judgments, clear and concise in his analysis…Service is extremely good on Soviet politics.”―Orlando Figes, Sunday Telegraph About the Author Robert Service is a Fellow of the British Academy and Professor of Russian History at Oxford University.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book gets through Stalin’s reign with substantial explanations and background, but it peters out when dealing with subsequent leaders. The language is intelligent enough to be engaging while not dense enough to halt moderate reading speed. The Kindle version gets sloppier in the second half (words smashed together likethis) but didn’t cause me much trouble.Overall: a good reference for who was in power and what they did/how things shook out.

⭐This book diagnoses the many ills of the Tsarist regime, communism, Stalinism, Leninism and modern Russia. The just rule of law or absence thereof is shown to be decisive and the many wrong turns explained. Covering more than a century, the book cannot delve into all the interesting details, but sufficient anecdotes and data are provided to describe the Russian roller-coaster and give readers a flavor of the times. Economics, politics, international relations, personalities, luck, culture …. all facets are covered.

⭐It is being a pleasure to read this book. The history on this book demonstrates what socialism becomes after it is implemented. Many countries today, like Venezuela, try to implement socialism and now the people are suffering the same consequences as in Russia. We should not let this happen around the world especially with all the history that we have available to see what is always the outcome of socialism.

⭐Great text-book. Great addition to anyone’s library. Insightful!

⭐Great!

⭐Robert Service’s authoritative account is a peerless review of Russian history since the last days of the Tsars. To have taken on such a mammoth task is heroic but to have produced such a clear, readable, engaging account is nothing short of a stellar achievement. Does it really matter if it’s been updated? History is constantly being rewritten as more and more documents are made available – the story of Oskar Schindler by Thomas Keneally and then, later, David Crowe is a spectacular example. Both are well-written, well-researched documents but the difference lies in what was available to Thomas Keneally when he wrote his book and what was available to Crowe when he wrote his. As Edvard Radzinsky observed after writing his account of Stalin, “this is a book that won’t finish…”I digress. To the whiners who gave the book a one- or two-star rating because of some technical issue or because it bridges into the 21st century, you are missing the point. It’s a book about MODERN Russia and if the technical issue is too much, buy the book. I did, for $5 and in excellent condition but that was AFTER I’d borrowed for FREE from the library.An unmissable opportunity to see how it was for the Russians after the Revolution and for anyone at all interested in world history, it is a real gem.It’s one to be read.

⭐It is an old book from 1997, somehow updated in 2003 and 2009. History has advanced since then very fast indeed…A better name for it would have been “A History of Russia during the XXth century and the first eight years of the XXI rst century”, but then, who would buy it?In addition, the Kindle edition is poor, as most Kindle editions of books still are, meaning, among other disturbances, that the Index, for instance, is worthless, since there is no way to locate in the Kindle edition the pages of the items that it contains.It is not worth even at half the original price Amazon is selling it!

⭐Service remains the most coherent and comprehensive history of modern Russia. He is reliable, clear, and more than sufficiently thorough for the typical reader interested in the subject matter.

⭐Having previously read Robert Service’s Lenin, and Comrades, I had already begun to consider Service as the most scholarly authority on modern Russia, and this expertly written volume cements my opinion of him.The work is neither too long, but perhaps, at over 570 pages, it is perhaps too short as it leaves the reader wanting more.Covering the entire 20th Century and the first decade of the 21st, Service leaves no stone unturned. All the major personalities and forces for change are included, and certain parts that may be a cause for digression, such as WWII, are kept within an appropriate length for a broad ranged study.Robert Service, while notably a scholar not known to place faith in the communist ideology, is nonetheless sensitive to the different opinions of the various segments of the population who are nostalgic for the days of old. A central problem Service identifies is corruption, that became endemic under the Brezhnev era with complacent, irresponsible management, and supplementing of income from other, often illegitimate, sources. Service reveals that by the time of the Brezhnev era, a deep cynicism was inbedded in the leadership that had scant regard for the actual ideals of communism, and instead sought little more than to preserve their hold on power. Such logic was behind the selection of the deathly ill Chernenko in the Kremlin succession of 1984, merely as a means to forestall a shakeup of the Soviet hierarchy.Service gives coverage to the Perestroika era, which is similar to his study in Comrades, but perhaps with more detail. From the breakup of the USSR he covers the power struggles, and uncertainty of the Yeltsin era, and take the readers up to and including the succession of Medvedev and the 2008 5 day war in Georgia.Service is praising of Russia’s achivements in the post Soviet era, and is reasonably optimistic of Russia’s future. One cannot discern as to whether Service is a Russophile, though this reader, if asked, would say not. However, Services lack of cultural preference perhaps gives the work a greater sense of objectivity.As a reader who has read various studies of Russian history, both within education and at leisure, this ranks as one of the best, and certainly the best comprehensive study. Recommended for both experienced Russia hands, or those with a Russia curiosity.

⭐The book is well-researched, and gives quite a detailed account of the political evolution of Russia from around the turn of the 20th Century, through the Soviet era and into the emergence of the Russian Federation. For anyone who wants to know something about the goings-on during that period, it is an eye-opener.On the negative side, the book focuses almost exclusively on those at the very centre of power (Lenin, Stalin, etc, and their immediate circle). It is quite sparing with information about the experiences of ordinary Russians, and has a tendency to gloss over the details of the more turbulent events. For example, Stalin’s reign of terror in the 1930s, and the battles against the Nazis in the 1940s are described in quite a distant manner, giving little insight into the experiences of those who were at the sharp end of events. We only learn something of Stalin’s machinations, not what it was like to be on the receiving end of his autocratic decisions.It also tends to jump around quite a lot, within each era. The broad strokes of history are dealt with in sequence, but within each period it jumps back and forth to such an extent that it is difficult to get a proper sense of the order in which events occurred. For example, when dealing with the period of the Revolution and its immediate aftermath, the book jumps back and forth between the years from 1917 to the early 1920s, and doesn’t tell the history in chronological order.

⭐Excellent !!!

⭐easy to read without too much jargon and a great start point for further research , would recommend it =]

⭐Great primer on Russia for anyone who’s heard of the general issues but needs a framework to look at its history. There is certainly a great effort of synthesis.

Keywords

Free Download A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition in PDF format
A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition PDF Free Download
Download A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition 2009 PDF Free
A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition 2009 PDF Free Download
Download A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition PDF
Free Download Ebook A History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition