Russia’s 20th Century: A Journey in 100 Histories

Michael Khodarkovsky’s innovative exploration of Russia’s 20th century, through 100 carefully selected vignettes that span the century, offers a fascinating prism through which to view Russian history. Each chosen microhistory focuses on one particular event or individual that allows you to understand Russia not in abstract terms but in real events in the lives of ordinary people. Russia’s 20th Century covers a broad range of topics, including the economy, culture, politics, ideology, law and society. This introduction provides a vital background and engaging analysis of Russia’s path through a turbulent 20th century.

A representative sample of chapters in the book includes:

1902: Peasants 1903: The Pogrom 1906: The Tsar’s Speech 1908: Church 1910: Tolstoy’s Death 1913: The Romanovs 1916: Rasputin 1922: USSR 1927: Orphans into Communists 1931: Palace of the Soviets
1935: Manufacturing Heroes 1939: Hitler’s Ally 1941: Moscow on the Brink
1945: Rape of Germany 1949: Atomic Project 1954: Nuclear War Exercise Snowball
1955: Empire of Nations 1960: Virgin Lands
1969: The Soviet Dr. Seuss
1971: The Soviet Bob Dylan
1972: Nixon in Moscow and Kiev 1977: USSR, Less than a Sum of its Parts
1980: Moscow Olympic Games 1984: Iron Maiden Behind the Iron Curtain 1985: Vodka
1990: Soviet Nationalisms and Ethnic Wars 1997: Russian Fascism 1998: Return of the KGB

The historical mosaic of Russia’s 20th Century provides a unique examination of modern Russian history one snapshot at a time, prompting us to reflect on a larger picture of Russia’s past and its place in the world today.