The Story of Russia

"“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” said Spanish-born philosopher George Santayana (1863–1952), in a quote that often does the rounds on social media to emphasize the importance of understanding history. The problem is that history is highly subjective, and its study, especially in school, traditionally part of a country’s nation-building project. The Story of Russia by British historian Orlando Figes explores the history that Russians tell themselves, an important narrative to be aware of if we’re to make sense of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine . Get the weekly Five Books newsletter The book opens in 2016 with the unveiling of a statue in front of the Kremlin to Grand Prince Vladimir, ruler of Kievan Rus, ‘the first Russian state’, between 980 and 1015. Vladimir Putin gave the opening address. “The Ukrainians were furious,” Figes writes. “They had their own statue of grand prince, Volodymyr as they call him. It was built in 1853…high up on the right bank of the Dnieper River overlooking Kiev.” As he notes, “What we have in the conflict over Volodymr/Vladimir is not a genuine historical dispute, but two incompatible foundation myths.” The book is a highly readable overview of more than a millennium of Russian history in fewer than 300 pages with, as the title suggests, an eye on the ‘story’ that’s being told and how it is relevant to the present. Not only does the book make you think about Russia, it also makes you think about the history of every country and the power of these ‘imagined communities.’"