A new two-volume history of Russia's turbulent
20th century is being hailed inside and outside
the country as a landmark contribution to the
swirling debate over Russia's past and national identity.
Written by 45 historians led by Andrei Zubov, a
professor at the institute that serves as
university to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the
weighty history -- almost 1,000 pages per volume
-- was published this year by AAST Publishers and
is already in its second printing of 10,000 copies.
Retailing at the rough equivalent of $20 a volume
and titled "History of Russia. XX Century," the
books try to rise above ideologically charged
clashes over Russia's historical memory. They are
critical both of czarist and Communist Russia,
and incorporate the history of Russian emigration
and the Russian Orthodox Church into the big
picture of a chaotic, violent century. While
written from a clearly Christian perspective
one author is a Russian Orthodox priest the
history avoids overt nationalism or anti-Semitism.
Eminent historians in the United States and
Poland who often take a critical view of Russia's
passionate, partisan discussion of history lauded its balance.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/arts/25iht-russia.html?_r=1>Link
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Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/11/history-of-20th-century-russia-warts.htm>monochrom
at 11/25/2009 01:12:00 PM
