Does anyone have suggestions for just straight Russian history or some good historical fiction set in Russia? (no bodice rippers please.)

Hmm well this depends on your preferences- I like Kort's <i> The Soviet Colossus</i>, and the other great one is <i> The Icon and the Axe</i> which I think James Billington (?) wrote.

Russia has so much incredible drama, if you have more specific interests let me know, I may be able to lead you in the right direction...

I loved &quot;Natasha's Dance,&quot; a long but beautifully written cultural history by Orlando Figes. He also wrote an even longer book dealing with the Russian Revolution, including the period after and before the Revolution, &quot;A People's Tragedy.&quot;

As for historical fiction, well, there's certainly no shortage of classic fiction by Russian authors: Dostoevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy, Turgenev...and on and on.

&quot;Nicholas and Alexandra.&quot; I can't remember the author but great book!

Peter the Great - His Life and World by Robert Massie

Catherine the Great: Life and Legend by John Alexander

Holy Russia by Fitzroy Macklean

The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison Salisbury

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor

Marshal of the Soviet Union - Reminiscences and Reflections by G. Zhukov

The Soviet General Staff at War by General of the Army S.M Shetemenko.

&quot;Object of Virtue,&quot; by Nicholas Nicholson, a novel involving Faberg&eacute; pieces.

I am the walking living history of the break-up of USSR. Any questions?

Quiet flows the Don / &Ograve;&egrave;&otilde;&egrave;&eacute; &Auml;&icirc;&iacute;
by Mikhail Sholokhov

Uh - guess my last post indicates that though we can now type active URLs, cyrillic characters are still not possible...

I just finished &quot;War and Peace&quot; for the 3rd time. It's the ultimate Russian novel, probably the greatest novel in any language. I also recently read &quot;The Brothers Karamazov&quot; for the first time.Wonderful depictions of the &quot;Russian character&quot;. &quot;Crime and Punishment&quot; is another great Dostoevsky novel.

Russia and the Russians by Geoffrey Hosking is a great book, especially for early Russian history. After Ivan IV, I found it dragged a little bit probably due mostly to the fact that I knew more of that time period previously.