Earlier this year Martin Sixsmith, longtime BBC correspondent in Moscow, published a short history of Russia, entitled "Russia, A 1,000 Year Chronicle of the Wild East". As I picked the book up and noticed it was only 530 pages I found it difficult to imagine how a writer could cover 1,000 years of Russian history in such a short book. I began reading and soon found the answer: by giving very short shrift to the early years.
The book devotes very little coverage to the days of Mongol suzerainty over Russia, only seven pages to the reign of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV), and only 14 pages to the reign of Peter the Great. As it gets closer to the 20th century, more in-depth coverage is given.
The best feature of the book is that is is highly readable. It's certainly not an academic work, but a popular history. But even so it does quote some of original sources, such as The Russian Primary Chronicle's description of Alexander Nevsky's defense of Novgorod against an invasion by the Teutonic Knights, which was later to become the subject of Sergei Eisenstein's notable 1938 film, "Alexander Nevsky".
The book also contains a great many interesting little stories. One such story is a description of a hoard of ancient documents written on strips of birch bark. The documents were discovered as the foundations for apartment houses were being excavated in Novgorod in the 1950s. The documents included cribsheets for school exams and a love note from a girl:
I love you and you love me. So why don't we get married?
The author also relates a story about Ivan the Terrible's anger toward Queen Elizabeth I of England, apparently provoked by her ignoring his marriage proposal:
I thought you were the one who ran your own country. That is why I started this correspondence with you. But it seems other people are running your country besides you... You are still there in your virginal state like any spinster... Moscow can do without English goods...
If there is sufficient interest, I will continue this review in subsequent installments.