Alexander Etkind

“There was another book which I wanted on the shortlist, Alexander Etkind’s Russia Against Modernity, which was published in April. It’s a short one, more of an extended article than a book, which makes it even more readable. Etkind is a well-known thinker. He’s currently at the Central European University in Vienna. He was in Florence for many years. He is the author of Internal Colonization: Russia’s Imperial Experience. It’s his term, actually. This book is about Russia’s war as a war against modernity, an attempt to stop time.” Read more...

The Best Russia Books: The 2023 Pushkin House Prize

Ekaterina Schulmann, Political Scientist

“Russia’s woes long predate its modern rulers, and their theft of the country’s oil and gas wealth. They start in an era when it was fur, not hydrocarbons, which attracted the rapacious interest of the men at the top. Alexander Etkind’s acclaimed Internal Colonization: Russia’s Imperial Experience is the most interesting and controversial book on the country’s cultural history, explaining how Russia has colonised itself, applying the abuse and misrule at home that other countries later applied to their overseas territories.” Read more...

The best books on Contemporary Russia

Edward Lucas, Journalist