He then ushers in Ivan IV, the Terrible ( grozny), the first czar to take on the “manufactured aura of ancient lineage and imperial status.” Through the times of trouble ( smutnoe vremia) following Ivan’s rule, the imposition of serfdom in the sixteenth century and through much else, Figes weaves his themes. In these early sections he draws on ethnogenesis and ethno-archaeology, revealing the baleful ways in which even those fields became politicized. Russian historians like to deny the Mongol legacy, but Figes argues convincingly that “in fact its impact was immense.” He then proceeds to scrutinize the Mongol influence, following the thirteenth-century “invasion” - actually a gradual migration of nomadic tribes. Those sources launched myths that became fundamental to the Russian understanding of nationhood. It is a saga of multi-millennial identity politics.Ī bestselling historian with a storied background himself, Figes arranges his material chronologically over ten chapters, beginning with the medieval chronicles of Kievan Rus. In this impressive and deeply immersive book, the author sets out to reveal Russia’s history, its people’s perception of their past and the manifold ways in which those in power manipulate both events and legend to shape the present. Every country has an origin story but none has “changed it so often” as Russia, according to Orlando Figes.

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