Russia and the Russians - Geoffrey Hosking

Geoffrey Hosking has been one of the foremost historians of Russia and her Empire for more than twenty years. He traces Russia's history from the settlement of Kiev through to the present day. He argues that two nation-building movements, one based on a messianic vision of Russia's destiny as God's people, the other a modernising and expansive imperial project of administration and assimilation, have clashed since the rise of Tsarism. These two nascent national identities offer a chance to compare & trace continuities in Tsarist and Soviet Russia & allow us to appreciate more fully the recurrent themes that have at times, and not least this century, appeared wholly without precedent in the history of the world.

Geoffrey Hosking is Professor of Russian History at University College London. His previous books include the best-selling Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917 and History of the Soviet Union
Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917 - 48,000 sales in the UK and Commonwealth.