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Writer's pictureAndré van Loon

The Story of Russia (book review)

Updated: Oct 11, 2022

Review of The Story of Russia, by Orlando Figes, published in Military History Matters

The Story of Russia is a thorough work of historical writing that unfortunately leaves aside its most interesting ideas after the book’s introduction. Figes starts with a fascinating series of hypotheses: that Russia has been more divided over its past than any other country; that the Russians keep reinventing their identity and historical mission in the world, often tragically so; and that the myth or blatant lie that can shore up power is proclaimed, even celebrated, by the country’s rulers – Vladimir Putin very much included.


Figes is splendid at arguing that Russian stories about Russia are typically a means to an end: lies or wishful thinking to get its people to fight, or to resist outside influences. Words can be weapons (as in Putin’s weird verbal attacks on Ukraine’s supposed ‘Nazi’ elites), or justifications for aggression (for instance, the narrative that Kyiv is the birthplace of modern Russia, meaning that the current war could effect a kind of mystical reunification). In short, Russia’s rulers tell the ‘true’ stories; its enemies say whatever they can to subvert these.


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