A Russian Reading List
To understand the Russian-Ukrainian War, you need to understand Russia. For most of the previous few hundred years, the land we know as Ukraine has been part of the Russian empire. The history of the two nations is inextricably intertwined.
As is my habit, when things in the world don’t make sense, I hit the books. Anne Applebaum’s books are high on my list; I read her articles over The Atlantic as soon as they’re published. LitHub put out a good reading list, but it’s a little intimidating; the NYT’s list of six books is a little more approachable. I’m reading Midnight in Chernobyl right now, which had been sitting on my shelf since it was published two years ago.
I also looked back over my notes from the Russian-themed books I’ve reviewed in this newsletter over the years, of which there are many. For your reading pleasure, here are my 5 favorites.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Towles’ novel, about a man on house arrest in a luxurious Moscow hotel, just oozes with charm and manages to slip in — rather than beat us over the head with — philosophical musings on friendship, parenthood, the call of home, and perhaps most poignant given the last couple years, being quarantined.
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie
“It is one of the supreme ironies of history that the blessed birth of an only son should have proved the mortal blow. Even as the saluting cannons boomed and the flags waved, Fate had prepared a terrible story. Along with the lost battles and sunken ships, the bombs, the revolutionaries and their plots, the strikes and revolts, Imperial Russia was toppled by a tiny defect in the body of a little boy.”
I can think of only a few writers who can craft a narrative as well as what Robert Massie accomplished in his 1967 biography of the final Tsar of Russia. From the very first page I was hooked by his writing style and ability to zero in on the details of a family while also zooming out to show the national and global consequences of seemingly insignificant events.
Of course, Massie benefits from his subject being one of the most surprising, captivating, head-shaking stories in all of history.
One of my all-time favorite biographies and a must-read for anyone interested in how Russia got to today.
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The premise of this book seemed strange at first, but quickly grabbed me: We’re in WWII-era Russia during the 900-day siege of Leningrad. Two Russian boys, on the verge of manhood, are oddly assigned to each other’s company for not quite doing their duty to their Mother Country. Thinking they might be executed, Lev and Kolya are instead sent on a fool’s errand to find a dozen eggs.
That’s right: their life and death mission is to bring their superior officer twelve eggs.
One of the best books I read in 2021.
The Tiger by John Vaillant
“No one would read [this book] if it were about a pig or a moose (or even a person) who attacked unemployed loggers. Tigers, on the other hand, get our full attention. They strike a deep and resonant chord within us.”
John Vaillant’s superb narrative of a vengeful tiger in Siberia is among the most memorable writing and storytelling I’ve encountered. If you didn’t know any better, you could get to the end of this book thinking you had just read a very realistic novel. This one really gets to the heart of life in Siberia — far removed from the metropolitan cities of western Russia.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
My relationship with War and Peace started in the spring of 2020. It was the perfect book to read in that early pandemic season. I was entranced by Tolstoy and decided to read it again in 2021, at the pace of one chapter per day, with hundreds of other people.
This 1,300-page book can be summed up in a sentence: Napoleon’s army is marching towards Moscow, high both continues its glittering parties and also sends its men to war, and everyone tries to figure out how to live in the midst of upheaval.
It’s shockingly relevant in the midst of this new war.
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-Jeremy
Thanks for sharing this. I've just (finally) ordered A Gentelman in Moscow.