Russia: The Story of War - Couverture rigide

Carleton, Gregory

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0674972481 ISBN 13 : 9780674972483

Editeur : The Belknap Press, 2017

Synopsis

No nation is a stranger to war, but for Russians war is part of who they are. Their motherland has been the battlefield where some of the largest armies have clashed, the most savage battles have been fought, and the highest death tolls paid. Having prevailed over the Mongol hordes and vanquished Napoleon and Hitler, many Russians believe that no country on earth has sacrificed so much for the world. In Russia: The Story of War Gregory Carleton explores the belief in exceptionalism that pervades Russian culture and politics and shows how Russians have forged a distinct identity rooted in war.

While outsiders view Russia as an aggressor, Russians themselves see a country surrounded by enemies, poised in a permanent defensive crouch as it fights off one invader after another. Time and again, history has called upon Russia to play the savior of Europe, of Christianity, of civilization itself and Russia s victories, especially over the Nazis in World War II, have come at immense cost. Even its defeats, always suffered on behalf of just causes in this telling, have become a source of pride.

War is the unifying thread of Russia s national epic, the factor that transcends its wrenching ideological transformations from the archconservative Russian Empire to the radical-totalitarian Soviet Union to the pseudo-democratic Russian Federation. Today, as Vladimir Putin s Russia asserts itself in ever bolder ways, knowing how the nation s war-torn past inflects its self-image is essential to understanding Russia s sense of place in history and in the world.

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A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Gregory Carleton is Professor of Russian Studies and Chair of the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies at Tufts University.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The Belknap Press
• Date d'édition: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0674972481
• ISBN 13: 9780674972483
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible