• Includes essays by both prominent and emerging scholars from Russia, Great Britain, the US, and Canada
• Analyzes the entire sweep of Russian history from debates over how to identify the earliest Slavs, through the Yeltsin Era, and future prospects for post-Soviet Russia
• Offers an extensive review of the medieval period, religion, culture, and the experiences of ordinary people
• Offers a balanced review of both traditional and cutting-edge topics, demonstrating the range and dynamism of the field

"As a companion for a journey across Russian history, this book is entertaining, clever and varied, brilliant at its best, and able to speak simultaneously and with authority to all kinds of students, general readers and specialists. Yet it has an eclectic air about it." (Slavonic and East European Review, 2 April 2011)

"Read from cover to cover, A Companion to Russian History will be of enormous value to those who teach survey courses in Russian history, to graduate students preparing for comprehensive exams in Russian history, or simply anyone who wants to get current with trends in the field." (The Russian Review, 2010)

"...Recommended as an up-to-date and well written guide to many important issues in Russian history, likely to be useful to everyone from senior school pupils to scholars seeking guidance in unfamiliar fields." (Reviews in History, April 2010)

Abbott Gleason is Keeney Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University, where he has served as Chairman of the History Department and Director of the Watson Institute from 2000-2001. In 1995 he served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. In 1980-1982 he was Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC and was subsequently chosen Chairman of its Board Advisers.