A Survey of Russian History, 1613-2021

What were the foundations of the Russian state? How did the Romanovs build the largest empire on earth? How did the Soviets transform that empire? What made the Russian revolution of 1917 possible? Is there a difference between Marxism and Leninism? Between Leninism and Stalinism? Why did the Soviet Union collapse? In the 1990s, Russia tried becoming a liberal democracy but failed – why? Does Russian history run in cycles? Can we call Putin’s regime “managed” or “illiberal” democracy?