My Russia War or Peace?, Mikhail Shishkin
My Russia War or Peace?, Mikhail Shishkin
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

My Russia: War or Peace?

Author: Mikhail Shishkin, Gesche Ipsen

Narrator: Matt Bates

Unabridged: 7 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: riverrun

Published: 03/30/2023


Synopsis

A passionate, eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past, as well as a love letter to a conflicted country.

In his timely new audiobook, Mikhail Shishkin, argues that Russia is not a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma': we just don't know enough about it. So what is the real story behind Putin's autocratic regime and its invasion of Ukraine?

In My Russia: War or Peace? Shishkin traces the roots of Russia's problems, from the 'Kievan Rus' via the Grand Duchy of Moscow, empire, revolution and Cold War, to the now thirty-year-old Russian Federation. He explores the uneasy relationship between state and citizens, explains Russian attitudes to people's rights and democracy, and proposes that there are really two Russian peoples: the disillusioned and disaffected, who suffer from 'slave mentality', and those who embrace 'European' values and try to stand up to oppression.

Both deeply personal and taking a broader historical view, My Russia is a passionate, eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past, as well as a love letter to a conflicted country. Will Russia continue its vicious circle of upheaval and autocracy, or will its people find a way out of history - and how can we help?

(P) 2023 Quercus Editions Limited

About Mikhail Shishkin

Mikhail Shishkin (Author)Born in 1961 in Moscow, Mikhail Shishkin is one of the most prominent names in contemporary Russian literature, and is the only author to have won all three major Russian Literary Prizes. He lives in Zurich.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Hristina on December 14, 2024

Excelentă......more

Goodreads review by Cerviallacarica on June 27, 2023

Il contenuto del saggio è uno di quelli che VANNO ASSOLUTAMENTE LETTI. Un saggio che destinato a noi occidentali per comprendere meglio cosa c'è dietro al regime russo. Nota dolente: la traslitterazione. In un saggio mi aspetto la traslitterazione scientifica, invece in questo caso è un mix di traslit......more

Goodreads review by Atreju on June 30, 2023

Shishkin non le manda certo a dire. In questo pamphlet urla forte il suo amore per la Russia. E proprio per questo non può tacere e grida forte, tira fuori tutto quello che non va. Ci sono stralci di autobiografia e di storia del paese. Nell'introduzione, un pensiero d'affetto e un messaggio di scus......more

Goodreads review by Gabriela on January 11, 2025

Am citit-o de 2 ori in decurs de câteva saptamâni. Intenționez să o recitesc de mai multe ori, pentru că reușește să ofere o prezentare concisă, dar foarte clară și ușor explicată a Rusiei. De multe ori, am simțit nevoia să reiau anumite pagini; deși informațiile nu erau neapărat noi pentru mine, fe......more

Goodreads review by Lorenzo on April 06, 2023

This is an important book, for anyone who wants to understand Russia. It's a mix of personal experience and history. There is attention for the current war in Ukraine, and Shishkin is brutally honest in his opinion and pulls no punches. The way forward for Russia (and back into the international com......more


Quotes

Shishkin is the most prominent Russian novelist of his generation. To compare him to Solzhenitsyn is no exaggeration... [An] important book Sunday Times

An elegant blend of history, biography and polemic Daily Telegraph

Often sings with powerfully estranged, original observations... minutiae and grand philosophy collide on every page. Boris Fishman, The New York Times Book Review (on The Light and The Dark)

Shishkin is interested in what is most precious and singular in classic Russian fiction: the passionate inquiry into what, in Maidenhair, is called the 'soul, quintessence, pollen.' Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal (on The Light and The Dark)