Rating: 
Summary: Who's Who and What's What.
Review: After reading many books on Russian history this one tells me who the players are and how they became players. An excellent book that presents a lot of information on the day to day life of everyone in early Russia.This is a must read. Jimmy
Rating:
Summary: Best One-Volume History of Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Review: I only read this book after I had been studying Russian and Russian history for many years, studied in Russia and married a Russian. It is beyond any doubt the best introduction to the subject that I have found in English. It removes a large amount of misconceptions that Americans have about Russian history, illuminates what deserves to be illuminated, avoids pet topics and romaticisms and manages to do all this without the condescending tone that most American writers take when writing about Russia. If you know nothing about Russia and want to learn, this is an excellent place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Best One-Volume History of Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Review: I only read this book after I had been studying Russian and Russian history for many years, studied in Russia and married a Russian. It is beyond any doubt the best introduction to the subject that I have found in English. It removes a large amount of misconceptions that Americans have about Russian history, illuminates what deserves to be illuminated, avoids pet topics and romaticisms and manages to do all this without the condescending tone that most American writers take when writing about Russia. If you know nothing about Russia and want to learn, this is an excellent place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Set
Review: I think this is the best of what I guess you would call Pipes' "Revolutionary Trilogy." "The Russian Revolution," perhaps two or three times the length, is impaired a bit by Pipes' sometimes tedious moral-pointing. "Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime" seems a bit less ambitious than the other two, and in any event it is surely the one least likely to survive the torrent of new material that is becoming available after the fall. What distinguishes Russia in Pipes' eye is the tradition of "patrimonialism" -- as a political category, a coinage of Pipes' own, though with its roots in Weber, in Hobbes and Bodin, even in Aristotle. Pipes means to denote "a regime where the rights of sovereignty and those of ownership blend to the point of becoming indistinguishable, and political power is exercised in the same manner as economic power." "Despotism," Pipes continues, "has much the same etymological origins, but over time it has acquired the meaning of a deviation or corruption of genuine kingship, the latter being understood to respect the property rights of subjects. The patrimonial regime, on the other hand, is a regime in its own right, not a corruption of something else." This is a brave assertion, and Pipes remains faithful to it. Indeed, the core of the book is perhaps his chapter entitled "The Anatomy of the Patrimonial Regime," where Pipes tries to show how utterly different is the tradition of governance in Russia from the tradition in the West -- even in Western nations that we might think of as "reactionary." There are other virtues to this book. His introductory chapter on the environment is perhaps worth the price of admission, as he retails the grim arithmetic of topsoil and grain production. His discussion of serfdom provokes all kinds of questions about the relationship between serfdom in Russia and slavery in the West. A work of just 318 pages can hardly pretend to be the last word on the history of a great nation, and Pipes maintains no such pretention. I take it as given that much more could be said to inform, expand upon, or criticize, Pipes' perspective. But as a framework for approaching the study of Russia, it is hard for me to see how it could be bettered. As a provative contribution to the literature of political analysis generally, I should think its claim is equally strong.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Set
Review: I think this is the best of what I guess you would call Pipes' "Revolutionary Trilogy." "The Russian Revolution," perhaps two or three times the length, is impaired a bit by Pipes' sometimes tedious moral-pointing. "Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime" seems a bit less ambitious than the other two, and in any event it is surely the one least likely to survive the torrent of new material that is becoming available after the fall. What distinguishes Russia in Pipes' eye is the tradition of "patrimonialism" -- as a political category, a coinage of Pipes' own, though with its roots in Weber, in Hobbes and Bodin, even in Aristotle. Pipes means to denote "a regime where the rights of sovereignty and those of ownership blend to the point of becoming indistinguishable, and political power is exercised in the same manner as economic power." "Despotism," Pipes continues, "has much the same etymological origins, but over time it has acquired the meaning of a deviation or corruption of genuine kingship, the latter being understood to respect the property rights of subjects. The patrimonial regime, on the other hand, is a regime in its own right, not a corruption of something else." This is a brave assertion, and Pipes remains faithful to it. Indeed, the core of the book is perhaps his chapter entitled "The Anatomy of the Patrimonial Regime," where Pipes tries to show how utterly different is the tradition of governance in Russia from the tradition in the West -- even in Western nations that we might think of as "reactionary." There are other virtues to this book. His introductory chapter on the environment is perhaps worth the price of admission, as he retails the grim arithmetic of topsoil and grain production. His discussion of serfdom provokes all kinds of questions about the relationship between serfdom in Russia and slavery in the West. A work of just 318 pages can hardly pretend to be the last word on the history of a great nation, and Pipes maintains no such pretention. I take it as given that much more could be said to inform, expand upon, or criticize, Pipes' perspective. But as a framework for approaching the study of Russia, it is hard for me to see how it could be bettered. As a provative contribution to the literature of political analysis generally, I should think its claim is equally strong.
Rating:
Summary: Exemplary
Review: Pipes has shown the way to think about history. This is an exceptionally clear, concise and informed book, and the best intro I know of to Russian history. (And Pipes is to Russian and Soviet history what Posner is to the study of law.)
Rating:
Summary: Amazing interpretation of Russia's history
Review: This book is an absolute must-read! Before I read this book the history of Russia was a weakly connected sequence of contradictory events to me - that I wasn't able to organize in my mind in any comprehensible way. After reading this book I see a clear picture of my country's history. I suddenly understand what is going on. Every historical event, every action of a historic person suddenly falls into place, I see their meaning. This book provides you with an understanding of the real issues that have been troubling Russia for the past 1200 years. You will understand Russia and you will understand its people. The mext time Russia is on the news, and you have some Russians making a statement or conducting some action - you will understand where they are coming from when they are doing that.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of study for students of Russian history
Review: This is an extremely well-written and insightful history of the development of Russia before the revolution. Pipes, among other things, discusses the development of critical social and political institutions. This book was originally published at the height of the Cold War and what I find remarkable is how Russia continues to struggle today with many of the problems created in pre-Communist Russia.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent History
Review: This is an extremely well-written and insightful history of the development of Russia before the revolution. Pipes, among other things, discusses the development of critical social and political institutions. This book was originally published at the height of the Cold War and what I find remarkable is how Russia continues to struggle today with many of the problems created in pre-Communist Russia.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Read
Review: This is indeed a brilliant book. Any one who wants to understand Russia should read it. I can not praise it highly enough. Please get a copy and learn and enjoy.
| 
