Russia

April 28, 1997
One of the author's earlier books, The First Socialist Society, is a rare example of sound academic history made popular. This monograph, while a tour de force from a foremost practitioner of Russian history, does not meet that standard. Hosking offers an innovative reinterpretation of Russian imperial history, arguing that the concept of nation-building should replace autocracy and backwardness, the two themes most often used to interpret Russian history. The subtitle of the book is the key here: the author believes that the desire for empire hindered the Russians' ability to form a nation. Demonstrating a thorough knowledge of Western and Russian sources, he covers the main topics in imperial Russian history: the rise of the Russian state, the peasantry, imperial expansion, the church, the army, the nobility and more. A professor of Russian history at the University of London's School of Slavonic & East European Studies, Hosking imaginatively connects specific movements and general patterns to buttress his argument--just one example is his nuanced articulation of the long-term importance of the Old Believers, those members of Russian society who resisted 17th-century religious reforms. The Old Believers, he explains, "marked the opening of a radical split in Russian consciousness, when large numbers of conservative and patriotic Russians became alienated from the imperial state." The book, however, is too dense and confusing--half is arranged thematically, half chronologically--for the general reader. There's plenty to chew on here--one only wishes the author had presented it in a more digestible package.