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A review by evamadera1
Russia: A 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East by Martin Sixsmith
informative
slow-paced
1.5
I thought that this book would end up as an average read for me. I stated as much in my August wrap up video when I thought I would finish by the 31st. Whoops.
Then I got further into the book. The more I read, the more frustrated I became. I added this book to my tbr because I wanted to learn more about Russia and its development. I have read a decent amount regarding Catherine the Great, the rest of the Romanovs and the Soviet era. I did not get this at all with this book.
In the first 150 pages of the 530 page book, Sixsmith "chronicles" a period of history from around the 900s to just after the start of the 1800s. Yeah. I should have known by that point how much time he would take on everything else. In fact, Sixsmith completely omits anything from the time of the Mongol occupation. He briefly mentions Ivan the Terrible, skimming over his reign in a short chapter. He spends a little longer on Catherine the Great, long enough to draw out some points that he could use to connect with actions taken by the Soviet rulers later. Then he gets into the start of the Soviet era with the 1917 Revolution and does this by page 225, yeah. He spends over 60% of a book purporting to be a 1000 year chronicle on less than 100 years of history.
I should have DNF'd but I'm too stubborn so I finished this one out which consumed several days of my September reading time. I do not recommend this one at all.
Also, I would say that the pace of the book is fast for the first 150 pages but then way too slow for the rest.
Then I got further into the book. The more I read, the more frustrated I became. I added this book to my tbr because I wanted to learn more about Russia and its development. I have read a decent amount regarding Catherine the Great, the rest of the Romanovs and the Soviet era. I did not get this at all with this book.
In the first 150 pages of the 530 page book, Sixsmith "chronicles" a period of history from around the 900s to just after the start of the 1800s. Yeah. I should have known by that point how much time he would take on everything else. In fact, Sixsmith completely omits anything from the time of the Mongol occupation. He briefly mentions Ivan the Terrible, skimming over his reign in a short chapter. He spends a little longer on Catherine the Great, long enough to draw out some points that he could use to connect with actions taken by the Soviet rulers later. Then he gets into the start of the Soviet era with the 1917 Revolution and does this by page 225, yeah. He spends over 60% of a book purporting to be a 1000 year chronicle on less than 100 years of history.
I should have DNF'd but I'm too stubborn so I finished this one out which consumed several days of my September reading time. I do not recommend this one at all.
Also, I would say that the pace of the book is fast for the first 150 pages but then way too slow for the rest.