Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14812 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 1040 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal the most impenetrable and mysterious of lands--Russia.

Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping culture and her peoples--bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears. From Russia's dawn and the cruel Tatar invasion to Ivan the Terrible and the wild Cossacks, from Peter, Catherine and the days of War and Peace to the drama of the Revolution and the extraordinary events of today--here is Russia's story in a spellbinding novel; history recreated with breathtaking detail and passion.

"Rewarding reading ... an engrossing story. The novel manages to capture and convey the vastness of Mother Russia, her story and her potential" --Boston Sunday Herald

"What's impressive about Russka is Edward Rutherfurd's audacity--and his erudition" --Washington Post

"It is a series of ingeniously linked short novels, with a great deal of history painlessly delivered ... a very good read indeed" --The Times

"...even textured, with just the right amount of spice, it is the literary equivalent of hot cakes" --Sunday Telegraph

Synopsis
In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal that most impenetrable and mysterious of lands...Russia. Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping family saga from the baffling contradictions of Russia's culture and her people - bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears. From Russia's dawn and the cruel Tartar invasions to Ivan the Terrible and the wild Cossacks, from Peter, Catherine and the days of 'War and Peace' to the drama of the Revolution and the extraordinary events of today - here is Russia's story in a spellbinding novel...history recreated with breathtaking detail and passion.

About the Author
Edward Rutherfurd was born in Salisbury, England, and educated at Cambridge University and Stanford University in California. His first bestselling novel, Sarum, is based on the history of Salisbury and Stonehenge. Russka, his second novel, recounted the sweeping history of Russia. London tells the two-thousand-year story of the great city, bringing all of the richness of London's past unforgettably to life. His last novel, The Forest, was set in the New Forest. A former resident of London and New York City, Edward Rutherfurd has had a home in Dublin for more than ten years. He has two children.

Customer Reviews

Heavy-going, tiresome read
Having read - and thoroughly enjoyed - London and The Forest I must admit that I struggled from the start of Russka until about page 500. My friend advised "Life's too short" so I discarded Russka half way through - something I hate doing. However, it was tedious to the point where I would get to the bottom of the page and realise I hadn't really read it. Far too much detail and boring characters for whom I felt no empathy. If you haven't read London then do so but I can't recommend Russka. I've given this book 1 star because a) the historical research which must have gone into writing this book is immense and b) it might have got better in the second half, which is something I'm in no hurry to find out.

A bit tedious at times
Edward Rutherfurd uses his well known method to describe the history of Russia: take two families from a certain hamlet, start in prehistoric times and follow their adventures, ups and downs in a number of chapters set over the centuries. And by doing this he can give a very good description of historically important events in the area. It worked very well for London, Sarum and The Forest, but I have to say it works less for Russka: at times the stories are long, making them slightly boring and the rivalries between the families are more important than the historical events. There are some interesting chapters, notably Forest and Steppe, Ivan (the Terrible), Peter (the Great) and Revolution, but I had to struggle through some of the other chapters. And then 945 pages is quite a lot...

Another classic Rutherfurd-style history
Russka tells the story of the history of the Russian heartland using Edward Rutherfurd's proven style of historic novel writing. If you have not previously read a Rutherfurd offering, he cleverly describes history as a series of short stories following several fictional family trees he develops through the book, alongside historical events and characters. All in all, it's a great way to read an entertaining book and learn a lot about the subject matter in the process.

Incredibly well researched (Rutherfurd points out that it took him 5 years to write this book), I really got a sense of Russian history from reading this, both in terms of its proud heritage and how the public viewed their Royal Family there. I read this book a few months after reading Rutherfurd's London book, and although the style is similar, that's where the similarity ends. For one thing, Russka is a far bigger area than London, describing instead the Russian heartlands, using villages based near Kiev and then Moscow as the backdrow for the novel.

All in all, I strongly recommend you read this book. I didn't think it was quite as good as London which was I believe written some time later, but don't let that detract from the quality of the story.