This lucid account of Russian and Soviet history presents major trends and events from ancient Kievan Rus to Vladimir Putins presidency of the twenty-first century. Now thoroughly revised and updated, Russia and the Soviet Union does not shy away from controversial topics, including the impact of the Mongol conquest, the paradoxes of Peter the Great, the inevitability of the 1917 Revolution, the Stalinist terror, and the Gorbachev reform effort. The sixth edition includes a new chapter on Vladimir Putin, additional treatment of social and foreign policy issues, and an updated chapter on post-Soviet Russia and the Yeltsin era. Distinguished by its brevity and amply supplemented with useful maps, illustrations, photos, and suggested readings, this essential text provides balanced coverage of all periods of Russian history and incorporates economic, social, and cultural developments as well as politics and foreign policy.

Table of Contents:
* Preface * Preface to the First Edition 1 Ancient Russia and the Kievan State * The Russian Land * The Peoples of Russia * The Slavs Come to Russia * The Formation of the Kievan State * How Did Kievan Russians Make a Living? * Kievan Society * Religion and Culture in Kievan Russia * Power and Politics in Kievan Russia * The Fall and Significance of Kievan Russia * Further Reading 2 Russia Divided and Conquered, 1054-1462 * Russia Divided * The Mongol Scourge * The Impact of the Mongols * The Decline of Mongol Power * Conclusion * Further Reading 3 Moscow and the Gathering of the Russian Lands, 1328-1533 * The Odds Against Moscow * Moscows Advantages * The Unification of Russia, 1328-1533 * Conclusion * Further Reading 4 Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles, 1533-1618 * The Personality and Character of Ivan the Terrible * The Reforms of Ivan IV * Ivan Versus the Aristocracy * The Time of Troubles, 1598-1613 * Conclusion * Further Reading 5 The Molding of Russian Society, 1613-1689 * Serfdom * The Autocracy * The Orthodox Church * The Expansion of Russia * Relations with the West * Conclusion * Further Reading 6 Peter the Great and Westernization, 1689-1725 * Peters Coming of Age * Peters Personality and Character * Peter in War and Diplomacy * Peters Reforms * Resistance to Peter * Significance of Peter the Great * Further Reading 7 Change and Continuity, 1725-1801 * Peters Successors, 1725-1762 * Catherine the Great, 1762-1796 * Russian Expansion and Colonization * Economic and Social Development * The Changing Role of the Nobility * Education and Culture * The Reign of Paul I, 1796-1801 * Conclusion * Further Reading 8 Power, Backwardness, and Creativity, 1801-1855 * The Serf Economy * Russia Unchanged * Creativity and Dissent * Russia-Arbiter of Europe, Colonizer of Asia and America * Conclusion * Further Reading 9 Reform, Reaction, and Modernization, 1855-1904 * The Era of the Great Reforms, 1855-1881 * Terror and Reaction * Economic and Social Modernization, 1861-1905 * Competing Ideologies * Conclusion * Further Reading 10 Revolution, Reform, and War, 1904-1917 * The Revolution of 1905 * The Duma Period, 1906-1914 * The Silver Age: Russian Culture, 1890-1917 * Russian Involvement in World War I, 1914-1917 * Conclusion * Further Reading 11 Revolution, Civil War, and the Founding of Soviet Society, 1917-1928 * The February Revolution: The Collapse of the Tsarist System * The Bolsheviks Come to Power * Civil War and Foreign Intervention, 1918-1921 * The New Economic Policy and Coexistence, 1921-1928 * The Struggle for Power * Conclusion * Further Reading 12 The Second Revolution, the Stalinist System, and World War II, 1928-1946 * The Revolution from Above: Industrialization and Collectivization * The Stalinist System * Soviet Culture, 1917-1953 * Stalin and the World, 1928-1946 * Conclusion * Further Reading 13 The Soviet Union as a Superpower: Change, Stagnation, and Cold War, 1946-1984 * Reconstruction and Renewed Stalinism * The Cold War * Ideological Rigidity and Repression * The Succession to Stalin and the Rise of Khrushchev * Peaceful Coexistence and Troubles in Eastern Europe * Origins of the Sino-Soviet Split * Ups and Downs in Soviet-Western Relation * Khrushchev: Reformer or Repairman? * Bureaucratic Stability Under Brezhnev and His Successors * Dtente and Its Erosion * The Changing Soviet Society * Conclusion * Further Reading 14 The Gorbachev Revolution and the Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1983-1991 * The Origins of the Gorbachev Reforms * Efforts to Rejuvenate the Economy * New Thinking in Foreign Policy * Glasnost * Democratization * Gorbachevs Downfall * The Attempted Coup of August 1991 * Conclusion * Further Reading 15 The New Russia in the Post-Soviet Era 1991- 2000 * The Quadruple Revolution * On the High Road to Capitalism * What Is a Normal Life? * The Rocky Road to Democracy * Russia, Its Neighbors, and the World * Conclusion * Further Reading 16 Putins Paradoxes * Notes * Index