Support Us
 
Search
MENUMENU
  • Nonfiction
        • Art
          • Architecture
          • Art History
          • Design & Illustration
          • Fashion & Style
          • Modern and Contemporary Art
          • Photography
        • Business
          • How to Invest
          • Leadership
          • Marketing
        • Economics
          • Behavioural Economics
          • Development Economics
          • Economic History
          • Finance
          • Financial Crisis
          • Globalisation & Inequality
          • World Economies
        • Environment
          • Climate Change
          • Environmental Ethics
        • Food & Cooking
          • The Best Cookbooks
          • Food & History of Food
          • Wine & Drinks
        • Health & Lifestyle
          • Death & Dying
          • Education
          • Family & Relationships
          • Happiness
          • Sex & Sexuality
        • History
          • Ancient History (up to 500)
          • History by Country
          • Historical Figures
          • Military History
          • Medieval History (500-1400)
          • Modern History (1800-1945)
        • Language
          • Grammar & Punctuation
          • Learning Languages
          • Linguistics
        • Law
        • Literary Nonfiction
          • Biography
          • Essays
          • Memoir
          • Artists' Biographies
          • Travel
          • True Crime
        • Music & Drama
          • Classical Music & Opera
          • Film & Cinema
          • Music
          • Theatre
        • Nature
          • Dinosaurs & the Prehistoric World
          • The Earth
          • Plants, Trees & Flowers
        • Philosophy
          • Ancient Philosophy
          • Ethics & Moral Philosophy
          • Great Philosophers
          • Social & Political Philosophy
        • Politics & Society
          • Conflict & War
          • Feminism
          • Foreign Policy & International Relations
          • Human Rights
          • Terrorism
        • Psychology
          • Mental Health
          • Neuroscience
          • Psychoanalysis
          • Psychology Research
          • Self Help
        • Religion
          • Best Atheist Books
          • Buddhism
          • Christian
          • Islamic
          • Jewish
          • Religious History
        • Science
          • Astronomy
          • Biology
          • Geoscience
          • Maths & Statistics
          • Moon Landing
          • Popular Science
          • Physics
        • Sports, Games & Hobbies
          • Football (Soccer)
          • Gardening
          • Hobbies
          • Sport & Sporting Culture
        • Technology
          • Artificial Intelligence
          • Computing
          • Digital Age
          • History of Technology
          • Internet
  • Fiction & Literature
        • Classic English Literature
        • Contemporary Fiction
          • NEW Fiction
        • Literary Criticism
        • Literary Figures
        • Classical Studies
        • Romance
        • Comics & Graphic Novels
        • Fairy Tales & Mythology
        • Crime Novels
        • Mystery
        • Historical Fiction
        • Horror
        • Humour
        • Memoir
        • Poetry
        • Science Fiction
        • Short Stories
        • Thrillers
        • Fantasy
  • World
        • Africa
          • Egypt
          • Ghana
          • Nigeria
          • Rwanda
          • South Africa
          • Zimbabwe
        • Americas
          • Latin America
            • Argentina
            • Brazil
            • Chile
            • Cuba
            • Mexico
          • United States
          • Canada
        • Arctic & Antarctica
        • Asia
          • Afghanistan
          • Burma
          • China
          • India
          • Japan
          • Korea
          • Pakistan
          • Bangladesh
          • Sri Lanka
          • Singapore
          • Vietnam
        • Australia
        • Europe
          • Belgium
          • Britain
          • France
          • Germany
          • Greece
          • Ireland
          • Italy
          • Netherlands
          • Norway
        • Middle East
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Israel
          • Syria
          • Turkey
          • Yemen
        • Russia & FSU
          • Azerbaijan
          • Georgia
          • Russia
          • Ukraine
  • Kids
        • Search by Age
          • Ages 3-5
          • Ages 6-8
          • Ages 9-12
          • Young Adult
        • Search by Topic
          • Science Books for Kids
          • Politics and Philosophy
          • Economics Books for Kids (Fiction)
          • History
          • Nature and Environment
          • Happiness & Mental Health
          • Family & Pets
        • Best New Children's Books
        • High School Teachers Recommend Books by Subject
        • Novels & Novelists
        • By Kids for Kids
  • Best Books of 2020
        • Politics
        • Biography
        • Memoirs and Autobiography
        • Cookbooks
        • Business
        • Philosophy
        • Fiction
          • Crime Fiction
          • Science Fiction
          • Historical Fiction
          • Romance
          • Mysteries
          • Thrillers
        • Nonfiction
        • Art
        • Economics
        • History
        • Science
        • Self Help
        • Audiobooks
        • Poetry
        • Kids Books
        • Kids Science
  • New Books
        • All new books
        • History
        • Philosophy
        • Science
        • Mathematics
        • Physics
        • Fiction
        • Biographies
        • Economics
        • Paperbacks
        • New Editions (of old books)
        • Our in-house reviews (nonfiction)
        • Our in-house reviews (fiction)
        • Gifts for Book Lovers
  • Audiobooks
    • Actors Read Great Books
    • Best Audiobooks for Kids
    • Books Narrated by Their Authors
    • Best Audiobook Thrillers
    • Best History Audiobooks
  • Book Awards
    • Booker Prize
    • Baillie Gifford Prize
    • Royal Society
    • Wolfson Prize
    • Walter Scott Prize
    • Arthur C Clarke Prize
    • Audie Awards
    • Nobel Prize
  • Experts

World » Asia » Russia

Most Recommended Books

A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes

” Figes possibly the least popular historian walking the earth today, because of the disgrace that he brought on himself so publicly over the Amazon debacle. At one point he actually got his wife to say she did it. Having said that, I think he’s a brilliant historian and it’s a great shame that these personal spats, which became so poisonous, have so tarnished his reputation. I think that A People’s Tragedy is the most readable and illuminating history of the Russian revolution to be written, using material that only became available to historians following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Its scope is immense.”

Roland Chambers, Biographer

Read more

The Road by Vasily Grossman

“Arguably the first published prose literary treatment of a concentration camp based on eye-witness accounts and whatever information Grossman could have gathered by himself.”

Maxim D Shrayer, Literary Scholar

Read more

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

“Life and Fate…is probably the most important work of fiction about World War II. But, in fact, it is more than just a fiction because it is based on very close reporting from his time with the soldiers. It is a deliberate act of literary homage to Tolstoy as one can see in the title. It is definitely the War and Peace of the 20th century.”

Antony Beevor, Military Historian and Veteran

Read more

War and Peace (Book) by Leo Tolstoy

“Classics of literature often seem intimidating, especially when they’re long. What’s interesting about them is that often they’re very easy reads, especially once you adjust to the language, which normally takes a few chapters. For me, War and Peace was, literally, a beach read. I read it on holiday the year I turned 19. I spent the days on the beach clutching it in the sand. At night, I stayed awake in the hut where we were staying to find out what happened next by the light of a small lamp, long after everyone else had gone to sleep and trying my best not to disturb anyone.”

Five Books,

Read more

Azerbaijan Diary by Thomas Goltz

“To my mind this is the best on-the-ground inside account of what it was like to live in the margins of the Soviet Union as it broke up.”

Thomas de Waal, Foreign Correspondent

Read more

Browse book recommendations:

Asia

  • Afghanistan
  • Azerbaijan
  • Burma
  • China
  • Georgia
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Middle East
  • North Korea
  • Pakistan
  • Russia
  • Singapore
  • Vietnam

World

  • Africa
  • Americas
  • Arctic & Antarctica
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Cities
  • Europe

We have a wide range of interviews recommending books on the history, politics and culture of Russia, and shed light on the reign of its current leader, Vladimir Putin, in power since 1999. For the latest book on Russia and where it's at, The Return of the Russian Leviathan by Russian academic Sergei Medvedev—who has already lost his job for writing critical of the current regime—won the 2020 Pushkin House Russian Book Prize and is a good place to start.

Looking back in time we have an excellent interview on Putin and Russian History with Edward Lucas, formerly a senior editor at the Economist, and now a security analyst. His recommendations include one of the best ever titles for a history book: It Was a Long Time Ago and it Never Happened Anyway. Our 2011 interview with British academic Simon Pirani on Putin's Russia is also an excellent insight into the late Yeltsin years and how Putin consolidated his power in his first decade.

Looking back to Russia's history,  Andrei Maylunas chooses his best books on pre-Revolutionary Russia. Roland Chambers chooses his best books on the Russian Revolution and  Thomas Keneally chooses his best books on Revolutionary Russia. Both recommend A People’s Tragedy:  The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes. Francis Spufford chooses his best books on Russia in the 20th -century and Robert Conquest chooses his best books on Communism. Robert Service chooses his best books on totalitarian Russia. Anna Reid chooses her best books on the Siege of Leningrad.

Thomas de Waal looks at conflict in the Caucasus. A number of other interviews also deal with Russia’s relationship with its periphery. Vanora Bennett chooses her best books on Chechnya and the poet, Nigan Hasan-Zadeh, chooses her best books on Azerbaijan.

On more cultural and literary themes, Michael Nicholson chooses his best books on Solzhenitsyn and Maxim D Shrayer his best books on Vladimir Nabokov and on Vasily Grossman. Rosamund Bartlett chooses the best Russian short stories. Books by Leo Tolstoy are some of the most frequently recommended on Five Books, attesting to the country's role in producing some of the greatest novels ever written.

    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize, recommended by Serhii Plokhy

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - The Return of the Russian Leviathan by Sergei Medvedev & Stephen Dalziel (translator)

    1

    The Return of the Russian Leviathan
    by Sergei Medvedev & Stephen Dalziel (translator)

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait by Bathsheba Demuth

    2

    Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait
    by Bathsheba Demuth

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown

    3

    Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future
    by Kate Brown

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival, the Life of Mikhail Sholokhov by Brian Boeck

    4

    Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival, the Life of Mikhail Sholokhov
    by Brian Boeck

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia by Joan Neuberger

    5

    This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia
    by Joan Neuberger

  • Read
    The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize - An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent by Owen Matthews

    6

    An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent
    by Owen Matthews

The Best Russia Books: the 2020 Pushkin House Prize, recommended by Serhii Plokhy

Every year since 2013 the Russian Book Prize run by Pushkin House, a UK charity, has carried out the important task  of drawing attention to books that “encourage public understanding and intelligent debate about the Russian-speaking world.” Here, Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2020 shortlist.

    The best books on Contemporary Russia, recommended by Edward Lucas

  • Read
    The best books on Contemporary Russia - Internal Colonization by Alexander Etkind

    1

    Internal Colonization
    by Alexander Etkind

  • Read
    The best books on Contemporary Russia - Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder

    2

    Bloodlands
    by Timothy Snyder

  • Read
    The best books on Contemporary Russia - Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum

    3

    Gulag: A History
    by Anne Applebaum

  • Read
    The best books on Contemporary Russia - Lenin's Tomb by David Remnick

    4

    Lenin's Tomb
    by David Remnick

  • Read
    The best books on Contemporary Russia - Putin’s Kleptocracy by Karen Dawisha

    5

    Putin’s Kleptocracy
    by Karen Dawisha

The best books on Contemporary Russia, recommended by Edward Lucas

Journalist and author Edward Lucas explains how a revanchist Russia can be traced back to Putin’s sense of betrayal after the collapse of the USSR

    The Best Vasily Grossman Books, recommended by Maxim D Shrayer

  • Read
    The Best Vasily Grossman Books - The Life and Fate of Vasily Grossman by John and Carol Garrard

    1

    The Life and Fate of Vasily Grossman
    by John and Carol Garrard

  • Read
    The Best Vasily Grossman Books - The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry by Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman

    2

    The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry
    by Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman

  • Read
    The Best Vasily Grossman Books - The Road by Vasily Grossman

    3

    The Road
    by Vasily Grossman

  • Read
    The Best Vasily Grossman Books - Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

    4

    Life and Fate
    by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

  • Read
    The Best Vasily Grossman Books - Forever Flowing by Vasily Grossman

    5

    Forever Flowing
    by Vasily Grossman

The Best Vasily Grossman Books, recommended by Maxim D Shrayer

The Soviet writer bore witness to the horrors of Russia’s World War Two and the Shoah — and deserves a place in literary history, says scholar Maxim D Shrayer. He recommends the best books by and about Vasily Grossman.

    The best books on Putin and Russian History, recommended by Edward Lucas

  • Read
    The best books on Putin and Russian History - It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway by David Satter

    1

    It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway
    by David Satter

  • Read
    The best books on Putin and Russian History - Internal Colonization by Alexander Etkind

    2

    Internal Colonization
    by Alexander Etkind

  • Read
    The best books on Putin and Russian History - The Man Without a Face by Masha Gessen

    3

    The Man Without a Face
    by Masha Gessen

  • Read
    The best books on Putin and Russian History - Molotov’s Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonsky

    4

    Molotov’s Magic Lantern
    by Rachel Polonsky

  • Read
    The best books on Putin and Russian History - Let Our Fame Be Great: Journeys Among the Defiant People of the Caucasus by Oliver Bullough

    5

    Let Our Fame Be Great: Journeys Among the Defiant People of the Caucasus
    by Oliver Bullough

The best books on Putin and Russian History, recommended by Edward Lucas

Journalist and author Edward Lucas gives an excoriating critique of Putinism and explains how Russia’s amoral present is rooted in a failure to come to terms with its past.

    The best books on The Russian Revolution, recommended by Roland Chambers

  • Read
    The best books on The Russian Revolution - Six Weeks in Russia in 1919 by Arthur Ransome

    1

    Six Weeks in Russia in 1919
    by Arthur Ransome

  • Read
    The best books on The Russian Revolution - A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes

    2

    A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution
    by Orlando Figes

  • Read
    The best books on The Russian Revolution - The Debate on Soviet Power by John LH Keep (editor and translator)

    3

    The Debate on Soviet Power
    by John LH Keep (editor and translator)

  • Read
    The best books on The Russian Revolution - Lenin in Zurich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    4

    Lenin in Zurich
    by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Read
    The best books on The Russian Revolution - History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky

    5

    History of the Russian Revolution
    by Leon Trotsky

The best books on The Russian Revolution, recommended by Roland Chambers

The Russian revolution was the beginning of the modern age, says award-winning author Roland Chambers. He tells us what Solzhenitsyn imagined Lenin was like, and about the children’s author who led a double life as a spy in Bolshevik Russia.

    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories

  • Read
    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories - The Queen of Spades and Other Stories by Alexander Pushkin

    1

    The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
    by Alexander Pushkin

  • Read
    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov

    2

    Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
    by Nikolai Leskov

  • Read
    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories - Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy

    3

    Master and Man and Other Stories
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories - About Love and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

    4

    About Love and Other Stories
    by Anton Chekhov

  • Read
    Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories - The Complete Works of Isaac Babel by Isaac Babel

    5

    The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
    by Isaac Babel

Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian Short Stories

In Russia, it’s often fallen to writers to challenge conventions and speak the truth, says the translator and biographer Rosamund Bartlett. She makes a personal selection of some of the most exhilarating Russian short fiction.

    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad, recommended by Anna Reid

  • Read
    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad - Russia at War by Alexander Werth

    1

    Russia at War
    by Alexander Werth

  • Read
    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad - A Writer At War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941-1945 by Vasily Grossman, translated by Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova

    2

    A Writer At War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941-1945
    by Vasily Grossman, translated by Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova

  • Read
    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad - Reflections on the Russian Soul by Dmitry Likhachov

    3

    Reflections on the Russian Soul
    by Dmitry Likhachov

  • Read
    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad - Less Than One by Joseph Brodsky

    4

    Less Than One
    by Joseph Brodsky

  • Read
    The best books on The Siege of Leningrad - Conversations with Stalin by Milovan Djilas

    5

    Conversations with Stalin
    by Milovan Djilas

The best books on The Siege of Leningrad, recommended by Anna Reid

Glorified by Russia, glossed over by the West, the siege of Leningrad is rarely seen for what it was – a tragic story of tremendous suffering and death. The author of Leningrad, Anna Reid, tells us what really happened there

    The best books on Putin’s Russia, recommended by Simon Pirani

  • Read
    The best books on Putin’s Russia - Godfather of the Kremlin by Paul Klebnikov

    1

    Godfather of the Kremlin
    by Paul Klebnikov

  • Read
    The best books on Putin’s Russia - Russia’s Oil and Natural Gas by Michael Ellman

    2

    Russia’s Oil and Natural Gas
    by Michael Ellman

  • Read
    The best books on Putin’s Russia - Labour After Communism by David Mandel

    3

    Labour After Communism
    by David Mandel

  • Read
    The best books on Putin’s Russia - Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the Caucasus by Georgi M Derluguian

    4

    Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the Caucasus
    by Georgi M Derluguian

  • Read
    The best books on Putin’s Russia - One Soldier’s War in Chechnya by Arkady Babchenko

    5

    One Soldier’s War in Chechnya
    by Arkady Babchenko

The best books on Putin’s Russia, recommended by Simon Pirani

Vladimir Putin has crafted a careful narrative about his rise to power and rescuing of Russia. The trouble, says author and academic Simon Pirani, is it isn’t true. He recommends the best books on Putin’s Russia.

    The best books on Communism, recommended by Robert Conquest

  • Read
    The best books on Communism - One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    1

    One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich
    by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Read
    The best books on Communism - Galina by Galina Vishnevskaya

    2

    Galina
    by Galina Vishnevskaya

  • Read
    The best books on Communism - The New Class by Milovan Djilas

    3

    The New Class
    by Milovan Djilas

  • Read
    The best books on Communism - Between East And West by Anne Applebaum

    4

    Between East And West
    by Anne Applebaum

  • Read
    The best books on Communism - The Russian Mind by Ronald Hingley

    5

    The Russian Mind
    by Ronald Hingley

The best books on Communism, recommended by Robert Conquest

Esteemed historian of the Soviet Union recommends five books on Communism, from novels and personal narratives to theoretical works.

    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, recommended by Michael Nicholson

  • Read
    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Solzhenitsyn by Michael Scammell

    1

    Solzhenitsyn
    by Michael Scammell

  • Read
    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn by L.Saraskina

    2

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
    by L.Saraskina

  • Read
    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Solzhenitsyn Files by Michael Scammell (Ed), Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

    3

    The Solzhenitsyn Files
    by Michael Scammell (Ed), Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

  • Read
    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Operation Prophet by Robert B Asprey

    4

    Operation Prophet
    by Robert B Asprey

  • Read
    The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Solzhenitsyn by Francis Barker

    5

    Solzhenitsyn
    by Francis Barker

The Best Books About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, recommended by Michael Nicholson

Russian literature specialist Michael Nicholson, Emeritus Fellow at University College, Oxford, talks us through the best books to learn more about the great Soviet dissident and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia, recommended by Robert Chandler

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Countess by Edith Sollohub

    1

    The Russian Countess
    by Edith Sollohub

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Road by Vasily Grossman

    2

    The Road
    by Vasily Grossman

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Word’s Worth by Michele A Berdy

    3

    The Russian Word’s Worth
    by Michele A Berdy

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov & Robert Chandler (translator)

    4

    The Foundation Pit
    by Andrey Platonov & Robert Chandler (translator)

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - Black Earth City by Charlotte Hobson

    5

    Black Earth City
    by Charlotte Hobson

The Best Tales of Soviet Russia, recommended by Robert Chandler

Robert Chandler, one of the best known translators of Russian literature, recommends some of his favourite tales of Soviet Russia. There’s the one about a dog in space and the one about the Soviet café which stocked nothing but champagne and Mars bars…

    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy, recommended by Martin Sixsmith

  • Read
    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy - The Russian Tradition by Tibor Szamuely

    1

    The Russian Tradition
    by Tibor Szamuely

  • Read
    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy - War and Peace (Book) by Leo Tolstoy

    2

    War and Peace (Book)
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy - August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    3

    August 1914
    by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Read
    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy - Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed

    4

    Ten Days that Shook the World
    by John Reed

  • Read
    The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy - V D Nabokov and the Russian Provisional Government, 1917 by V D Nabokov

    5

    V D Nabokov and the Russian Provisional Government, 1917
    by V D Nabokov

The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy, recommended by Martin Sixsmith

Former BBC Moscow correspondent Martin Sixsmith chooses five great works on Russia’s doomed democracies

    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus, recommended by Thomas de Waal

  • Read
    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus - Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the Caucasus by Georgi M Derluguian

    1

    Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the Caucasus
    by Georgi M Derluguian

  • Read
    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus - Azerbaijan Diary by Thomas Goltz

    2

    Azerbaijan Diary
    by Thomas Goltz

  • Read
    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus - My Brother’s Road by Markar Melkonian

    3

    My Brother’s Road
    by Markar Melkonian

  • Read
    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus - Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

    4

    Ali and Nino
    by Kurban Said

  • Read
    The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus - The Butter Battle Book by Dr Seuss

    5

    The Butter Battle Book
    by Dr Seuss

The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus, recommended by Thomas de Waal

Acknowledged expert on the unresolved conflicts of the South Caucasus selects five books that encapsulate the fragility of the region and the impact of the desperate scramble for the spoils of the Soviet Union

    The best books on 20th Century Russia, recommended by Francis Spufford

  • Read
    The best books on 20th Century Russia - Khrushchev by William Taubman

    1

    Khrushchev
    by William Taubman

  • Read
    The best books on 20th Century Russia - Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

    2

    Life and Fate
    by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

  • Read
    The best books on 20th Century Russia - Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

    3

    Roadside Picnic
    by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

  • Read
    The best books on 20th Century Russia - The Jewish Century by Yuri Slezkine

    4

    The Jewish Century
    by Yuri Slezkine

  • Read
    The best books on 20th Century Russia - Molotov’s Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonsky

    5

    Molotov’s Magic Lantern
    by Rachel Polonsky

The best books on 20th Century Russia, recommended by Francis Spufford

Reading about Russia’s 20th century is like finding another vision of how the world might have been. Francis Spufford, author of Red Plenty, recommends books that tell the story of Russia in the last century — from Soviet science fiction set in capitalist wastelands to Khrushchev as raconteur.

    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov, recommended by Maxim D Shrayer

  • Read
    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov - The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov by Vladimir Nabokov

    1

    The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
    by Vladimir Nabokov

  • Read
    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov - Glory by Vladimir Nabokov

    2

    Glory
    by Vladimir Nabokov

  • Read
    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov - Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

    3

    Pnin
    by Vladimir Nabokov

  • Read
    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov - Vladimir Nabokov by Brian Boyd

    4

    Vladimir Nabokov
    by Brian Boyd

  • Read
    The best books on Vladimir Nabokov - Vladimir Nabokov (Overlook Illustrated Lives) by Jane Grayson

    5

    Vladimir Nabokov (Overlook Illustrated Lives)
    by Jane Grayson

The best books on Vladimir Nabokov, recommended by Maxim D Shrayer

Bilingual author and translator with his pick of the five must-reads by – and about – Nabokov. Says a revisionist biography of the writer is due, which comes to terms with the Jewish influence on his work

    The best books on The Caucasus, recommended by Oliver Bullough

  • Read
    The best books on The Caucasus - The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus by John Frederick Baddeley

    1

    The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus
    by John Frederick Baddeley

  • Read
    The best books on The Caucasus - A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov, translator Vladimir Nabokov

    2

    A Hero of Our Time
    by Mikhail Lermontov, translator Vladimir Nabokov

  • Read
    The best books on The Caucasus - Nart Sagas of the Caucasus by Translator John Colarusso

    3

    Nart Sagas of the Caucasus
    by Translator John Colarusso

  • Read
    The best books on The Caucasus - The Nation Killers by Robert Conquest

    4

    The Nation Killers
    by Robert Conquest

  • Read
    The best books on The Caucasus - A Dirty War by Anna Politkovskaya

    5

    A Dirty War
    by Anna Politkovskaya

The best books on The Caucasus, recommended by Oliver Bullough

Author and former Reuters correspondent in Moscow chooses books on the Caucasus and says the only language Russia understands is unconditional surrender, whether they are ruled by the Tsars, the Communists or Putin

    Books from the KGB Archives, recommended by Lyubov Vinogradova

  • Read
    Books from the KGB Archives - My Journey by Olga Sliozberg

    1

    My Journey
    by Olga Sliozberg

  • Read
    Books from the KGB Archives - Writers and Soviet Leaders by Boris Frezinsky

    2

    Writers and Soviet Leaders
    by Boris Frezinsky

  • Read
    Books from the KGB Archives - The Forsaken by Tim Tzouliadis

    3

    The Forsaken
    by Tim Tzouliadis

  • Read
    Books from the KGB Archives - Stalingrad by V Khristoforov

    4

    Stalingrad
    by V Khristoforov

  • Read
    Books from the KGB Archives - The Cold Civil War by Andrei Okulov

    5

    The Cold Civil War
    by Andrei Okulov

Books from the KGB Archives, recommended by Lyubov Vinogradova

The author and academic talks about KGB tricks to get American victims of the Great Depression in Russia to take Soviet citizenship. ‘They had to hand over their American passports temporarily and never saw them again’

    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia, recommended by Andrei Maylunas

  • Read
    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia - Notes on Russia by Sigismund von Herberstein

    1

    Notes on Russia
    by Sigismund von Herberstein

  • Read
    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia - Prince of Princes by Simon Sebag Montefiore

    2

    Prince of Princes
    by Simon Sebag Montefiore

  • Read
    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia - War and Peace (Book) by Leo Tolstoy

    3

    War and Peace (Book)
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia - Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov

    4

    Oblomov
    by Ivan Goncharov

  • Read
    The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia - Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    5

    Demons
    by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The best books on Pre-Revolutionary Russia, recommended by Andrei Maylunas

Eminent historian on pre-Soviet Russia with unique access to the Moscow archives says Dostoevsky’s Demons is about Russia’s future. ‘It’s about what has happened, and what’s going to happen … You smell it and taste it’

    The best books on Azerbaijan, recommended by Nigar Hasan-Zadeh

  • Read
    The best books on Azerbaijan - Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

    1

    Ali and Nino
    by Kurban Said

  • Read
    The best books on Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan Diary by Thomas Goltz

    2

    Azerbaijan Diary
    by Thomas Goltz

  • Read
    The best books on Azerbaijan - Mirror of the Invisible World by Nizami Ganjavi

    3

    Mirror of the Invisible World
    by Nizami Ganjavi

  • Read
    The best books on Azerbaijan - Leyla and Majnun by Fuzuli (Muhammad bin Suleyman).

    4

    Leyla and Majnun
    by Fuzuli (Muhammad bin Suleyman).

  • Read
    The best books on Azerbaijan - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

    5

    The Master and Margarita
    by Mikhail Bulgakov

The best books on Azerbaijan, recommended by Nigar Hasan-Zadeh

Rated by the British Library as among the top ten foreign poets based in London, Nigar Hasan-Zadeh discusses a range of books—from love stories, to poetry, to oil field reporting—to boost our insight into Azerbaijan.

    The best books on Totalitarian Russia, recommended by Robert Service

  • Read
    The best books on Totalitarian Russia - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

    1

    Nineteen Eighty-Four
    by George Orwell

  • Read
    The best books on Totalitarian Russia - History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

    2

    History of the Peloponnesian War
    by Thucydides

  • Read
    The best books on Totalitarian Russia - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    3

    Crime and Punishment
    by Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • Read
    The best books on Totalitarian Russia - The Twelve by Alexander Blok

    4

    The Twelve
    by Alexander Blok

  • Read
    The best books on Totalitarian Russia - My Life by Leon Trotsky

    5

    My Life
    by Leon Trotsky

The best books on Totalitarian Russia, recommended by Robert Service

Robert Service, Professor of Russian Studies at Oxford, when forced to choose between Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, says Stalin was definitely the worst of the lot. He takes a look at the dynamics of totalitarian Russia, gleaning insights from Thucydides to Orwell.

    The best books on Russian Cinema, recommended by Ian Christie

  • Read
    The best books on Russian Cinema - Kino by Jay Leyda

    1

    Kino
    by Jay Leyda

  • Read
    The best books on Russian Cinema - Early Cinema in Russia and its Cultural Reception by Yuri Tsivian

    2

    Early Cinema in Russia and its Cultural Reception
    by Yuri Tsivian

  • Read
    The best books on Russian Cinema - Sergei Eisenstein by Oksana Bulgakowa

    3

    Sergei Eisenstein
    by Oksana Bulgakowa

  • Read
    The best books on Russian Cinema - Ivan the Terrible by Yuri Tsivian

    4

    Ivan the Terrible
    by Yuri Tsivian

  • Read
    The best books on Russian Cinema - Tarkovsky: Cinema as Poetry by Maja Turovskaja

    5

    Tarkovsky: Cinema as Poetry
    by Maja Turovskaja

The best books on Russian Cinema, recommended by Ian Christie

From Eisenstein to Tarkovsky, film scholar Ian Christie looks at the titans of Russian cinema and draws attention to the pre-Revolutionary Siberian gold merchant’s daughter who opened a cinema purely for the upper classes.

    The best books on Soviet Law, recommended by Stephen Lucas

  • Read
    The best books on Soviet Law - Soviet Workers and the Collapse of Perestroika by Donald Filtzer

    1

    Soviet Workers and the Collapse of Perestroika
    by Donald Filtzer

  • Read
    The best books on Soviet Law - Lenin's Tomb by David Remnick

    2

    Lenin's Tomb
    by David Remnick

  • Read
    The best books on Soviet Law - The Socialist Offensive by R W Davies

    3

    The Socialist Offensive
    by R W Davies

  • Read
    The best books on Soviet Law - Communists and Their Law by John N Hazard

    4

    Communists and Their Law
    by John N Hazard

  • Read
    The best books on Soviet Law - The History of International Law in Russia 1647-1917 by V E Grabar

    5

    The History of International Law in Russia 1647-1917
    by V E Grabar

The best books on Soviet Law, recommended by Stephen Lucas

Dr Stephen Lucas is a partner in the banking group of an international law firm, Linklaters LLP and a student of Soviet law. He recommends books on communist legislation in the former USSR

    The best books on Revolutionary Russia, recommended by Thomas Keneally

  • Read
    The best books on Revolutionary Russia - A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes

    1

    A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution
    by Orlando Figes

  • Read
    The best books on Revolutionary Russia - My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

    2

    My Childhood
    by Maxim Gorky

  • Read
    The best books on Revolutionary Russia - Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore

    3

    Young Stalin
    by Simon Sebag Montefiore

  • Read
    The best books on Revolutionary Russia - Red Cavalry and Other Stories by Isaac Babel

    4

    Red Cavalry and Other Stories
    by Isaac Babel

  • Read
    The best books on Revolutionary Russia - Natasha’s Dance by Orlando Figes

    5

    Natasha’s Dance
    by Orlando Figes

The best books on Revolutionary Russia, recommended by Thomas Keneally

Best-selling author Thomas Keneally explains that the Cold War biographies couldn’t afford to say that Stalin was attractive, or that Lenin was magnetic, but they were, because otherwise people wouldn’t have followed them. He picks some great introductions to Revolutionary Russia.

    The best books on Chechnya, recommended by Vanora Bennett

  • Read
    The best books on Chechnya - Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy

    1

    Hadji Murad
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    The best books on Chechnya - The North Caucasus Barrier by Marie Bennigsen Broxup (ed)

    2

    The North Caucasus Barrier
    by Marie Bennigsen Broxup (ed)

  • Read
    The best books on Chechnya - A Small Victorious War by Thomas de Waal and Carlotta Gall

    3

    A Small Victorious War
    by Thomas de Waal and Carlotta Gall

  • Read
    The best books on Chechnya - The Oath by Khassan Baiev

    4

    The Oath
    by Khassan Baiev

  • Read
    The best books on Chechnya - A Small Corner of Hell by Anna Politkovskaya

    5

    A Small Corner of Hell
    by Anna Politkovskaya

The best books on Chechnya, recommended by Vanora Bennett

Award winning reporter and novelist says there are no superlatives too superlative for Anna Politkovskaya, who, after three books and innumerable investigative reporting trips to Chechnya, was murdered in Moscow

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

Newsletter Contact us Privacy Policy Terms of Service

© Five Books 2021