Nicholas Valentine Riasanovsky

"In this new book, Nicholas Riasanovsky, one of the foremost Russian historians, applies a lifetime of study to answer a question that has puzzled historians, politicians, and nationalists for centuries: what does it mean to be Russian? As he shows, the answer to this question has varied over the centuries. The Russian people have lived under a number of different political, social, and economic structures, as the very borders of what is considered Russia have shifted. Rather than impose a false sense of coherence on a past full of contradictions, Riasanovsky explores the many different aspects of Russian identity to explain what it has meant to be Russian during different eras, carrying this monumental and engrossing story from the pre-history of the East Slavs to the post-communist present."--Jacket.