History Books

“Elegantly written and magisterially researched” (Robert Service, author of A History of Modern Russia), the definitive story behind the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty, by the world’s foremost expert.

An encyclopedic and richly detailed history of everyday life in the Soviet Union

Linda Himelstein’s critically acclaimed biography of Russian vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov is the sweeping story of entrepreneurship, empire, and epicurean triumph unlike anything the world has ever seen before.

In this saga of brilliant triumphs and magnificent failures, David E. Hoffman, the former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, sheds light on the hidden lives of Russia's most feared power brokers: the oligarchs.

An essential insight into Russia’s relations with Ukraine, the US and beyond

The acclaimed author of Sovietistan travels along the seemingly endless Russian border and reveals the deep and pervasive influence it has had across half the globe.

The definitive story of a game so great, even the Cold War couldn't stop it

From former NPR Moscow correspondent Gregory Feifer comes an incisive portrait that draws on vivid personal stories of the forces that have shaped the Russian character for centuries-and continue to do so today.

A New York Times bestseller, this definitive history of Ukraine is “an exemplary account of Europe’s least-known large country” (Wall Street Journal).

Russia’s epic story told in an accessible, lively and short form, using the country's fascinating history to help us understand its actions today and what the future might hold

The first history of the epic defeat of Napoleon's empire told from the Russian perspective.

The Romanovs ruled a sixth of the world’s surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world’s greatest empire? And how did they lose it all?