La historia de Rusia

The history of Russia has been marked like few others by the use of myths for political ends. No other country has reinvented its own story so often, in a perpetual effort to adapt to changing dominant ideologies, and that tendency is precisely a vital aspect of its culture. To understand what the country's future holds - and what the Putin regime means for Russia and the rest of the world - we must unravel the ideas and meanings of that history. From its agrarian beginnings in the first millennium to the Putin era, passing through the periods of monarchy, totalitarianism and Perestroika, the brilliant historian Orlando Figes examines the keys that have marked the destiny of the country, among them the need for an autocratic regime to govern such a vast territory; the veneration of the "Holy Tsar" and the cult of the leader; the belief in an essentially Russian collectivist spirit; and its oscillation between European and Eurasian character. All these ingredients allow us to understand modern Russia. At a time when the country is moving away from Europe, this story of its past, by an authority on the subject and wonderfully narrated, could well elucidate its future.