Best Russian History Books

1.
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty 4.23 avg rating — 29,465 ratings
2.
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 4.33 avg rating — 33,404 ratings
3.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman 3.94 avg rating — 107,264 ratings
4.
Peter the Great: His Life and World
Peter the Great: His Life and World 4.15 avg rating — 22,818 ratings
5.
Gulag: A History
Gulag: A History 4.28 avg rating — 12,841 ratings
6.
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891 - 1924
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891 - 1924 4.37 avg rating — 5,694 ratings
7.
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943 4.32 avg rating — 40,053 ratings
8.
Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia
Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia 4.24 avg rating — 4,281 ratings
9.
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar 4.14 avg rating — 12,631 ratings
10.
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia 4.26 avg rating — 3,108 ratings
11.
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire 4.26 avg rating — 5,207 ratings
12.
The Romanovs: The Final Chapter
The Romanovs: The Final Chapter 4.02 avg rating — 7,615 ratings
13.
The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II
The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II 4.07 avg rating — 4,472 ratings
14.
Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945
Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 4.07 avg rating — 3,904 ratings
15.
The Great Terror: A Reassessment
The Great Terror: A Reassessment 4.13 avg rating — 1,187 ratings
16.
The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad
The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad 4.18 avg rating — 3,843 ratings
17.
Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy
Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy 4.08 avg rating — 1,777 ratings
18.
Journey into the Whirlwind
Journey into the Whirlwind 4.33 avg rating — 3,854 ratings
19.
A History of Russia
A History of Russia 3.98 avg rating — 1,020 ratings
20.
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin 4.39 avg rating — 18,860 ratings
21.
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia 4.33 avg rating — 8,764 ratings
22.
The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine
The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine 4.15 avg rating — 875 ratings
23.
The Romanovs, 1613-1918
The Romanovs, 1613-1918 4.02 avg rating — 15,676 ratings
24.
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great 4.09 avg rating — 3,033 ratings
25.
Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s
Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s 3.92 avg rating — 1,299 ratings
26.
The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture
The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture 4.09 avg rating — 391 ratings
27.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible 3.90 avg rating — 610 ratings
28.
A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army
A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 4.19 avg rating — 3,620 ratings
29.
Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,513 ratings
30.
Stalin
Stalin 4.07 avg rating — 1,866 ratings
31.
Stalin
Stalin 3.95 avg rating — 2,143 ratings
32.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich 3.98 avg rating — 122,126 ratings
33.
The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia
The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia 4.36 avg rating — 1,110 ratings
34.
Russia: A 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East
Russia: A 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East 4.17 avg rating — 1,596 ratings
35.
Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power
Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power 4.02 avg rating — 1,426 ratings
36.
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives 4.18 avg rating — 2,733 ratings
37.
Russian Thinkers
Russian Thinkers 4.29 avg rating — 792 ratings
38.
Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel
Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel 3.71 avg rating — 649 ratings
39.
The Rasputin File
The Rasputin File 3.85 avg rating — 1,850 ratings
40.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible 3.48 avg rating — 221 ratings
40.
Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941
Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941 4.46 avg rating — 1,546 ratings
42.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible 3.95 avg rating — 311 ratings
43.
Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia
Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia 3.84 avg rating — 1,374 ratings
44.
Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine
Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine 4.39 avg rating — 8,865 ratings
45.
The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia
The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia
by: Greg King
4.16 avg rating — 448 ratings
46.
The Fate of the Romanovs
The Fate of the Romanovs
by: Greg King
4.09 avg rating — 898 ratings
47.
Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner
Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner 4.11 avg rating — 899 ratings
48.
Young Stalin
Young Stalin 3.97 avg rating — 7,512 ratings
49.
Twenty Letters To A Friend
Twenty Letters To A Friend 3.86 avg rating — 537 ratings
50.
Letters from Russia
Letters from Russia 4.09 avg rating — 440 ratings
51.
The Shadow of the Winter Palace: Russia's Drift to Revolution 1825-1917
The Shadow of the Winter Palace: Russia's Drift to Revolution 1825-1917 3.86 avg rating — 214 ratings
52.
Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge
Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge 3.94 avg rating — 1,470 ratings
53.
Man Is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag
Man Is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag 4.35 avg rating — 881 ratings
54.
The Russian Revolution 1917-1932
The Russian Revolution 1917-1932 3.74 avg rating — 2,507 ratings
55.
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom 4.24 avg rating — 21,392 ratings
56.
Within the Whirlwind
Within the Whirlwind 4.60 avg rating — 410 ratings
57.
The Memoirs of Catherine the Great
The Memoirs of Catherine the Great 3.85 avg rating — 507 ratings
57.
A History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev
A History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev 3.98 avg rating — 797 ratings
59.
Tolstoy: A Russian Life
Tolstoy: A Russian Life 4.17 avg rating — 751 ratings
60.
The Russians
The Russians 4.02 avg rating — 792 ratings
61.
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors 3.83 avg rating — 4,547 ratings
62.
Alexandra: The Last Tsarina
Alexandra: The Last Tsarina 3.94 avg rating — 1,784 ratings
63.
Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization
Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization 4.16 avg rating — 388 ratings
64.
Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia
Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia 4.19 avg rating — 483 ratings
65.
The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood
The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood 4.17 avg rating — 639 ratings
66.
Pavlovsk : The Life of a Russian Palace
Pavlovsk : The Life of a Russian Palace 4.25 avg rating — 59 ratings
67.
Revolutionary Russia, 1891 - 1991: A History
Revolutionary Russia, 1891 - 1991: A History 4.04 avg rating — 3,025 ratings
68.
Russia Under the Old Regime
Russia Under the Old Regime 4.06 avg rating — 527 ratings
69.
Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century
Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century 3.92 avg rating — 39 ratings
70.
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg 4.05 avg rating — 6,113 ratings
71.
The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939
The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939 3.99 avg rating — 202 ratings
72.
Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina
Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina 3.82 avg rating — 722 ratings
72.
The Gulag Archipelago, Volume Three
The Gulag Archipelago, Volume Three 4.54 avg rating — 2,493 ratings
74.
The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin`s War with Germany
The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin`s War with Germany 4.01 avg rating — 222 ratings
75.
The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn
The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn 3.89 avg rating — 238 ratings
76.
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets 4.46 avg rating — 20,848 ratings
77.
My Past and Thoughts
My Past and Thoughts 4.20 avg rating — 381 ratings
78.
The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians
The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians 4.16 avg rating — 94 ratings
79.
The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias
The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias 4.12 avg rating — 504 ratings
80.
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad 4.35 avg rating — 6,299 ratings
81.
War and Peace
War and Peace 4.17 avg rating — 356,969 ratings
82.
Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia
Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia 3.94 avg rating — 2,391 ratings
83.
The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II
The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II 3.75 avg rating — 518 ratings
84.
The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union
The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union 4.23 avg rating — 1,868 ratings
85.
Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War 3.66 avg rating — 252 ratings
86.
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 4.08 avg rating — 7,064 ratings
87.
Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel
Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel 4.44 avg rating — 2,554 ratings
88.
War's Unwomanly Face
War's Unwomanly Face 4.51 avg rating — 37,424 ratings
89.
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra 3.88 avg rating — 24,078 ratings
90.
The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800
The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800
by: Jay Winik
4.08 avg rating — 2,004 ratings
91.
The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II
The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II
by: Greg King
4.15 avg rating — 376 ratings
92.
The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia
The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia 4.45 avg rating — 322 ratings
93.
Cursed Days: Diary of a Revolution
Cursed Days: Diary of a Revolution 4.19 avg rating — 1,460 ratings
94.
Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy, Vol. 2: From Alexander II to the Abdication of Nicholas II
Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy, Vol. 2: From Alexander II to the Abdication of Nicholas II 4.12 avg rating — 8 ratings
95.
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia 4.19 avg rating — 6,913 ratings
96.
The Bloody White Baron
The Bloody White Baron 3.61 avg rating — 1,114 ratings
97.
August 1914 (The Red Wheel, #1)
August 1914 (The Red Wheel, #1) 3.94 avg rating — 2,770 ratings
98.
The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev's Adaptability, Reagan's Engagement, and the End of the Cold War
The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev's Adaptability, Reagan's Engagement, and the End of the Cold War 3.62 avg rating — 110 ratings
99.
The Gulag Archipelago
The Gulag Archipelago 4.37 avg rating — 11,712 ratings
100.
Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs
Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs 3.91 avg rating — 1,990 ratings
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