Russia

In the late 1970s, the National Security Agency still did not officially exist. So why, when NSA engineer Charles Gandy filed for a visa to visit Moscow, did the Russian Foreign Ministry assert with confidence that he was a spy? Find out....

Blind Man's Bluff shows for the first time how the navy sent submarines wired with self-destruct charges into the heart of Soviet seas to tap crucial underwater telephone cables....

The Nobel Prize winner’s towering masterpiece of world literature, the searing record of four decades of terror and oppression, in one abridged volume (authorized by the author). Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum....

This is the definitive story of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, based on original reporting and new archival research. Through two decades of reporting, new archival information, and firsthand interviews with witnesses, Adam Higginbotham tells the full dramatic story....

In a seamless meshing of exhaustive research, brilliant synthesis and narrative élan, Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the life and lives of Stalin’s court from the time of his acclamation as “leader” in 1929, five years after Lenin’s death, until his own death in 1953 at the age of 73....

In 2014, the world witnessed the start of a mysterious series of cyberattacks. Targeting American utility companies, NATO, and electric grids in Eastern Europe, the strikes grew ever more brazen....

The #1 New York Times bestseller, now in an expanded audiobook edition that includes detailed historical context for the democracy-threatening Ukrainian conflict and a call to action for modern times....

In 2010, the words “earthquake swarm” entered the lexicon in Oklahoma. That same year, a trove of Michael Jackson memorabilia—including his iconic crystal-encrusted white glove—was sold at auction for over $1 million....

A revelatory history of one of Stalin's greatest crimes - the consequences of which still resonate today....

A dramatic and timely account of Stalin's failed invasion of Finland in 1939, and the decade of wars and fraught relations that followed....

A classic work of World War II history that brings to vivid, dramatic life one of the bloodiest battles ever fought - and the beginning of the end for the Third Reich....

Antonio Mendez and his future wife, Jonna, were CIA operatives working to spy on Moscow in the late 1970s, at one of the most dangerous moments in the Cold War. Soviets kept files on all foreigners, studied their patterns, tapped their phones....

When veteran war reporter Benjamin Hall woke up in Kyiv on the morning of March 14, 2022, he had no idea that, within hours, Russian bombs would nearly end his life....

Who was Kim Philby? Those closest to him—like his fellow MI6 officer and best friend since childhood, Nicholas Elliot, and the CIA’s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton—knew him as a loyal confidant and an unshakeable patriot....

The riveting, secret story of the hundred-year intelligence war between Russia and the West with lessons for our new superpower conflict with China....

Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense fight with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence. But today's conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over Ukraine's territory and its existence as a sovereign nation....

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines....

Bringing Lenin to life for the first time as a complex human being, Sebestyen casts a new light on the Russian Revolution, one of the great turning points of modern history....

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (1870-1924) is better known by his alias Lenin. A Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, he served as the head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924....

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most cataclysmic events in world history, profoundly shaping politics, international relations, social patterns, economics and science in the century that followed....

An authoritative history of Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II, from the New York Times best-selling author of The Gates of Europe....

A People’s Tragedy follows workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world is consumed by revolution and then degenerates into violence and dictatorship....

Robert K. Massie returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became Catherine the Great. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination....

The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'....

From an award-winning scholar comes this definitive, single-volume history that illuminates the tensions and transformations of the Russian Revolution....

In this brilliant, myth-busting account, Rodric Braithwaite, the former British ambassador to Moscow, challenges much of what we know about the Soviets in Afghanistan. He provides an inside look at this little-understood episode, using first-hand accounts and piercing analysis to show the war as it was fought and experienced by the Russians.

Amidst the turmoil of war, two men stand at the crossroads of destiny. Andrei Nikita Kuznetsov, once hailed as the Soviet Union's finest sniper, now languishes in the shadows of his former glory. Estranged from his family and drowning in self-loathing, he counts down his remaining days in a dilapidated apartment, numbing his pain with vodka. In contrast, Sasha greets each dawn with hope, until a cascade of mistakes threatens to extinguish his aspirations and threatens to derail his dreams. Rejected by his love, Anna, and adrift in a sea of failures, Sasha sees his future slipping away. When...

"My Life in the Red Army" by Fred Virski offers a rare, firsthand account of a soldier's experiences within the Soviet military machine during a critical period of the 20th century. Through the lens of Virski's personal journey, the book sheds light on the inner workings, struggles, and day-to-day life of the Red Army from the perspective of an ordinary soldier.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is a complex and multifaceted issue with a long history. This book will explore the origins of the conflict, from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It will also examine the role of NATO expansion in the conflict, as well as the economic and political factors that have contributed to the current crisis. The book will begin by providing a brief history of Ukraine and Russia, from the early days of the Slavic peoples to the formation of the Soviet Union. It will then discuss the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent ...

This second book picks up where the first left off, and tells the story of the conflict as it continues to unfold. The book examines the political, economic, and military developments in Ukraine and Russia that have shaped the conflict in recent years. It also explores the wider implications of the conflict, including its impact on European security and the role of the United States and NATO. The Russo-Ukrainian War is a complex and ever-changing conflict. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the conflict, and it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the latest ...

Fair warning. This is not a page-turning memoir. Marshal Rokossovskiy (who is editor, not author) and the gang of military men who helped him produce this tome did not set out to write a novel. This is a compendium of military reports, and analysis of those reports, dealing with the entire campaign of which Stalingrad was the centerpiece. It is an exhaustive detailing of events taking place between July 1942 and February 1943 as far north as Voronezh Oblast', as far west as Ukraine and as far south as Dagestan. In translating other books dealing with Stalingrad, I was left wondering why I ...

Lenin's work and influence have often been written off as no longer relevant, and many today consider this to be so. Lenin has, they claim, had his day, even though he is still revered in China, the world's most populous country. However, Lenin, like his mentor Marx, has had a tendency to rise from apparent decline and oblivion to renewed force and influence.

In November 1941, Hitler ordered German forces to complete the final drive on the Soviet capital, now less than 100 kilometers away. Army Group Center was pressed into the attack for one last attempt to break Soviet resistance before the onset of winter. From the German perspective, the final drive on Moscow had all the ingredients of a dramatic final battle in the east, which, according to previous accounts, only failed at the gates of Moscow.

In Collisions, Michael Kimmage, a historian and former State Department official who focused on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, offers a wide-angle, historically informed account of the origins of the current Russia-Ukraine war.

Kirill Moskalenko commanded Red Army forces from the first day of the Great Patriotic War to the last. His remarkable path led him from the border battles that began the war to the left flank of the Battle of Moscow, to the Kharkov Offensive of May 1942, to Stalingrad and on to the campaigns of Southwestern Theater forces that resulted in the creation of the Kursk Salient. This first volume of his memoirs ends in early 1943. Moskalenko moved from one unit to another with what may seem astonishing rapidity. In his case it was no reflection—or perhaps little reflection—on his perceived ...

The 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is part of a long Russian siege and occupation that began since the 2004 November Orange Revolution. These essays are based on Fazle Chowdhury’s analysis reflecting his chilling observances. The threat of war had been looming since March 2021 as Russia began deploying troops along the Ukrainian border, including in Belarus, in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria and occupied Crimea. Diplomacy looked to be the only instrument for peace, but met by a "Chamberlain-eques" reaction Europe's heavyweights; France, Germany and Italy, have...

"From Agony to Resilience: Ukraine's Struggle for Peace" by Robert Dobbs is a profound and moving account of Ukraine's recent journey from the depths of conflict to the heights of human courage and resilience. This non-fiction masterpiece offers readers an intimate look into the heart-wrenching experiences of a nation caught in the throes of war while also highlighting the unbreakable spirit of its people. Robert Dobbs meticulously documents the events that have shaken Ukraine, illuminating the suffering of its people. Through personal anecdotes and detailed analysis, Dobbs brings to life ...

At the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Soviets were so caught by surprise at the start of the attack that the Germans were able to push several hundred miles into Russia across a front that stretched dozens of miles long, reaching the major cities of Leningrad and Sevastopol in just three months. The first major Russian city in their path was Minsk, which fell in only six days. In order to make clear his determination to win at all costs, Stalin had the three men in charge of the troops defending Minsk executed for their failure to hold their position.

Vasiliy Chuikov offers a detailed history of the Battle of Stalingrad. He was there. Chuikov's account of the battle was first published in 1962. That book was translated into English and published as The Battle for Stalingrad in 1965. This book, Stalingrad: Battle of the Century, is a translation of Chuikov's 1975 edition, a very different work. I have now re-edited my translation and eliminated some mistakes. No translation is ever perfect. There is no doubt that Stalingrad was a turning point in World War II. It was, perhaps, a turning point in human history. Adolf Hitler's psychopathic ...

How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.