Russia

Vividly written, clearly argued, and full of telling details, this is the most accessible work available that explains how memories of wars have occupied a preeminent part of the Russian national mythology.--Stephen M. Norris, Miami University Carleton makes an important contribution to understanding post-Soviet Russian nationalism, both at the elite level and in popular culture, by surveying speeches, films, novels, television, and architectural and monumental representations of war and their place in shaping what he calls Russia's civic religion. He shows how Russia's contemporary 'narrative of war' reaches back to the Mongol conquest of the twelfth century and forward to Russia's wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, and even to today's conflict with Ukraine.--Mark von Hagen, Arizona State University Provides a fascinating cultural history of the evolution of what [Carleton] calls Russia's 'civil religion, ' a 'grand narrative of war' that reaches back to the Mongol experience in the 13th through 15th centuries and the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.The key ingredients of the Russian war myth are invasion, resistance, self-reliance, and self-sacrifice. It is a narrative that appears repeatedly throughout Russian history, literature, art, and film, and is a current staple of Russian President Vladimir Putin's political rhetoric.--Francis P. Sempa New York Journal of Books Vividly written and clearly argued, Russia: The Story of War is scholarship at its best. Carleton offers the most accessible work available that explains how memories of wars have occupied a preeminent part of the Russian national mythology. Provocative in the best sense and convincing in its interpretations, this timely book is packed full of insights.--Stephen M. Norris, author of Blockbuster History in the New Russia: Movies, Memory, Patriotism