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Book Cover for: Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation, Serhii Plokhy

Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation

Serhii Plokhy

Hardcover
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From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prizewinning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialism.

In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine -- only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today by delving into the nation's history. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin exploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy.

An authoritative and masterful account of Russian nationalism, Lost Kingdom chronicles the story behind Russia's belligerent empire-building quest.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Basic Books
  • Publish Date: Oct 10th, 2017
  • Pages: 432
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.30in - 6.30in - 1.50in - 1.45lb
  • EAN: 9780465098491
  • Categories: • Russia - General• Political Ideologies - Nationalism & Patriotism• Imperialism

About the Author

Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. The New York Times bestselling author of The Gates of Europe and Nuclear Folly, Plokhy is an award-winning author of numerous books. He lives in Burlington, Massachusetts.

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Book Cover for: The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, Serhii Plokhy
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Book Cover for: Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union, Serhii Plokhy
Book Cover for: Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front: American Airmen Behind the Soviet Lines and the Collapse of the Grand Alliance, Serhii Plokhy
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What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Andrés Pertierra
Andrés Pertierra
@ASPertierra
2 years

Historian of Cuba. LatAm & Caribbean History PhD Candidate @UWMadison. Bylines: @thenation @DissentMag I’m https://t.co/sn3zTPW2lK on BlueSky

@Trilobitten Serhii Plokhy repeatedly talks about Russia's imperial conception of itself, symbolic relationship with Rome/Byzantium, etc., in his recent book 'Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation', which I both really enjoyed and found really helpful

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: The Kyiv Independent
The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
2 years

Become a member: https://t.co/jsQiFkoveH One-time donation: https://t.co/eNwj76xa7a

1. “Ukraine in Histories and Stories- Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals" 2. “Red Famine" by Anne Applebaum 3. “The Gates of Europe,” "Chernobyl. History of a Tragedy” and "Lost Kingdom" by Serhii Plokhy 4. "A History of Ukraine" by Oleksandr Palii

twitter.com

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

"Lucid and well-paced."--Times Higher Education
"The kind of magisterial history that only a seasoned historian with full command of his field can write... [a] masterful text."--Russian Review
"[F]ascinating and constantly stimulating."--Slavic Review
"Engaging... Plokhy paints a rich and colorful picture of the historical events that influenced debates about Russia's conception of its geopolitical position."--Michigan War Studies Review
"Learned, engaging, and timely, Lost Kingdom recounts in fascinating detail the story of the Russian nation across several tumultuous centuries, from its earliest days up to the regime of Vladimir Putin. Internationally acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy knows his subject like few others, and he writes with aplomb and a keen eye for the ironies, contingencies, and tragedies of this history. A book that should be read by everyone seeking to understand Russia today."
--Douglas Smith, author of Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs
"[A] sweeping study... Mr. Plokhy seeks to explain the centrality of the so-called western provinces to Russian identity. This is not merely an intellectual exercise but one closely linked to contemporary geostrategic debates. As Mr. Plokhy writes: 'The question of where Russia begins and ends, and who constitutes the Russian people, has preoccupied Russian thinkers for centuries.' ... his study...show[s] why this question is of such importance."--Wall Street Journal
"Plokhy eloquently relates the historical ebbs and flows of Russian nationalism and imperialism... [his] thorough historical analysis places President Vladimir Putin's 21st-century foreign policy in a firm historical context."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A timely work of impeccable research that elucidates the Russian impulse toward regaining lost lands under a powerful myth of origins.... Plokhy continues to show that he is the master of this terrain."--Kirkus Reviews
"In Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do -- make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive. He brings Russia's centuries of struggle with nationalism and imperialism into the near focus of Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Lost Kingdom carefully and colorfully relates how the fires of history and myth burned from before the first tsars to Peter the Great, through the Bolsheviks, World War II, and the fall of the Soviet Union. With Russia everywhere in the news today, and every pundit pretending to be an expert, Lost Kingdom is essential reading for those wishing to understand Russia beyond the headlines."
--Garry Kasparov, author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
"Lost Kingdom is an erudite exploration of the contradictions of Russian nationalism, whose history shows it to be both inclusive and exclusive, universalistic and identitarian, often in quick succession or even simultaneously. A master historian on top of his game, Serhii Plokhy lays out the challenges this past presents for transforming Russia into a better country for its people and its neighbors."
--Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World History
"That said, to Plokhy's enormous credit, he shows us these spirited contestations with ab-solute mastery. Though written with grace for a wide audience and spanning five centuries in just 350 pages, this is a subtle, precise, and deeply learned book."--Willard Sunderland, Journal of Modern History

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Andrés Pertierra
Andrés Pertierra
@ASPertierra
2 years

Historian of Cuba. LatAm & Caribbean History PhD Candidate @UWMadison. Bylines: @thenation @DissentMag I’m https://t.co/sn3zTPW2lK on BlueSky

@Trilobitten Serhii Plokhy repeatedly talks about Russia's imperial conception of itself, symbolic relationship with Rome/Byzantium, etc., in his recent book 'Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation', which I both really enjoyed and found really helpful

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: The Kyiv Independent
The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
2 years

Become a member: https://t.co/jsQiFkoveH One-time donation: https://t.co/eNwj76xa7a

1. “Ukraine in Histories and Stories- Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals" 2. “Red Famine" by Anne Applebaum 3. “The Gates of Europe,” "Chernobyl. History of a Tragedy” and "Lost Kingdom" by Serhii Plokhy 4. "A History of Ukraine" by Oleksandr Palii

twitter.com
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