A Short History of Russia (by Mark Galeotti)

Tagged this as "give up" because this was actually the third book about Russian history I attempted for the RHC category of "a history about a period you know little about."  

I selected Russia because I know very little about any period of Russian history, despite growing up in the 80s where Gorbechev's name was everywhere, and having both my spouse and one of my best friends knowing a lot about Russia, including the language.  Plus, with the rise of Putin and Russian disinformation, it seemed like a real gap, which this category of the RHC seemed primed to fill. 

Lenin's Tomb was the one I tried right before this, and I struggled to get through 5% of it because it is long and dense and Russian names are confusing. (Also the problem with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, frankly.) (Sorry, I love you though Tolstoy.) A Short History of Russia is hilariously breezy in comparison. Gorbachev resumes power and then the USSR ends in like, two paragraphs. It's great.  

But the accessibility belies the fact that it was also an extremely informative overview of Russian history from the 900s to almost the present day.  It twigged some memories of what I have read (a biography of Catherine the Great; War & Peace) but put everything in its broader context. Particularly interesting: Russia became a world power only after (and because of) World War II and the Treaty of Yalta, and apparently at every single point in history, being an ordinary Russian has been depressing as hell. No wonder they drink so much vodka.  Seriously, I could only find like a decade where it didn't sound horrible to be Russian.

I'm really glad to have this lens on Putin and current world events, and if you are interested, like I said, this is really accessible and informative, and I recommend it.

(Oh, by the way, this was published in 2020, and the ending is a little overly optimistic about Russia's relationship with the rest of Europe considering current events, but who knew. The author is active on Twitter and worth a follow if you're still hanging around there.)