![]() ![]() Writing in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, authors Rodric Braithwaite and Orlando Figes are readier to cast Putin not as a cynical manipulator of Russian history but as a firm believer in its apparent lessons. ![]() In “ A Short History of Russia: How the World’s Largest Country Invented Itself, From the Pagans to Putin,” Mark Galeotti recounts how Russia’s rulers have proved a largely pragmatic bunch, ready to rummage around in a grab bag of historical symbols, myths and traditions (many of them imported) to shore up their claims to power. ![]() Russia’s past is packed with traumas, ruptures, defeats and victories that have been invoked, distorted and reinvented by successive generations. The popular aphorism that “Russia is a country with an unpredictable past” understandably works its way into all three books. ![]()
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