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My Russia: War or Peace?
- Author
- Mikhail Shishkin
- Narrator
- Matt Bates
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Publish Date
- 30 March 2023
- Run Time
- 7 hours 4 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Essays, History, Politics and government
What to expect
In his timely new audiobook, Mikhail Shishkin, argues that Russia is not a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma': we just don't know enough about it. So what is the real story behind Putin's autocratic regime and its invasion of Ukraine?
In My Russia: War or Peace? Shishkin traces the roots of Russia's problems, from the 'Kievan Rus' via the Grand Duchy of Moscow, empire, revolution and Cold War, to the now thirty-year-old Russian Federation. He explores the uneasy relationship between state and citizens, explains Russian attitudes to people's rights and democracy, and proposes that there are really two Russian peoples: the disillusioned and disaffected, who suffer from 'slave mentality', and those who embrace 'European' values and try to stand up to oppression.
Both deeply personal and taking a broader historical view, My Russia is a passionate, eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past, as well as a love letter to a conflicted country. Will Russia continue its vicious circle of upheaval and autocracy, or will its people find a way out of history - and how can we help?
(P) 2023 Quercus Editions Limited
Critics Review
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Shishkin is the most prominent Russian novelist of his generation. To compare him to Solzhenitsyn is no exaggeration... [An] important book
Sunday Times
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An elegant blend of history, biography and polemic
Daily Telegraph
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Often sings with powerfully estranged, original observations... minutiae and grand philosophy collide on every page.
Boris Fishman, The New York Times Book Review (on The Light and The Dark)
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Shishkin is interested in what is most precious and singular in classic Russian fiction: the passionate inquiry into what, in Maidenhair, is called the 'soul, quintessence, pollen.'
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal (on The Light and The Dark)
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Mikhail Shishkin
- Narrator
- Matt Bates
- Duration
- 7 hours 4 minutes
- Release Date
- 30 March 2023
- ISBN
- 9781529427844
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Genre
- Essays, History, Politics and government
Synopsis
A passionate, eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past, as well as a love letter to a conflicted country.In his timely new audiobook, Mikhail Shishkin, argues that Russia is not a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma': we just don't know enough about it. So what is the real story behind Putin's autocratic regime and its invasion of Ukraine?In My Russia: War or Peace? Shishkin traces the roots of Russia's problems, from the 'Kievan Rus' via the Grand Duchy of Moscow, empire, revolution and Cold War, to the now thirty-year-old Russian Federation. He explores the uneasy relationship between state and citizens, explains Russian attitudes to people's rights and democracy, and proposes that there are really two Russian peoples: the disillusioned and disaffected, who suffer from 'slave mentality', and those who embrace 'European' values and try to stand up to oppression.Both deeply personal and taking a broader historical view, My Russia is a passionate, eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past, as well as a love letter to a conflicted country. Will Russia continue its vicious circle of upheaval and autocracy, or will its people find a way out of history - and how can we help?(P) 2023 Quercus Editions Limited
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