Russia Audiobooks | History

Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate

A leading expert on foreign policy reveals how tensions between America, NATO, and Russia transformed geopolitics in a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2021 'Sarotte is the unofficial dean of 'end of Cold War' studies. . . . With her latest book, she tackles head-on the not-controversial-at-all questions about NATO's eastward growth and the effect it had on Russia's relations with the west.' -Daniel W. Drezner, Washington Post 'The most engaging and carefully documented account of this period in East-West diplomacy currently available.' -Andrew Moravscik, Foreign Affairs Based on over a hundred interviews and on secret records of White House-Kremlin contacts, Not One Inch shows how the United States successfully overcame Russian resistance in the 1990s to expand NATO to more than 900 million people. But it also reveals how Washington's hardball tactics transformed the era between the Cold War and the present day, undermining what could have become a lasting partnership. Vladimir Putin swears that Washington betrayed a promise that NATO would move 'not one inch' eastward and justifies renewed confrontation as a necessary response to the alliance's illegitimate 'deployment of military infrastructure to our borders.' But the United States insists that neither President George H. W. Bush nor any other leader made such a promise. Pulling back the curtain on U.S.-Russian relations in the critical years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and Putin's rise to power, prize-winning Cold War historian M. E. Sarotte reveals the bitter clashes over NATO behind the facade of friendship and comes to a sobering conclusion: the damage did not have to happen. In this deeply researched and compellingly written book, Sarotte shows what went wrong.

M.E. Sarotte (Author), Teri Schnaubelt (Narrator)

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Страна имен. Как мы называем улицы, деревни и города в России

На берегу Москвы-реки до сих пор стоит деревня Марс, названная так большевиками, а Екатерина II повально переименовывала места, чьи имена звучали «срамно» и «непристойно». Географические названия, топонимы — не только наш ориентир в пространстве, но и спо

сергей никитин (Author), сергей никитин (Narrator)

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Hambruna roja: La guerra de Stalin contra Ucrania

***Premio de Periodismo de El Mundo y Premio Francisco Cerecedo de Periodismo 2021*** La ganadora del Premio Pulitzer Anne Applebaum arroja luz sobre uno de los más atroces genocidios de la historia de Europa. Anne Applebaum, ganadora del Premio Pulitzer por Gulag y finalista del National Book Award por El Telón de Acero, cuenta en Hambruna roja la reveladora historia de uno de los peores crímenes de la era soviética. En 1929, la gran colectivización puesta en marcha por Stalin forzó a millones de campesinos a entregar sus tierras. El resultado fue una hambruna sin precedentes; al menos cinco millones de personas perecieron entre 1931 y 1934 en la URSS, de los cuales cuatro eran ucranianos. En Hambruna roja, Anne Applebaum argumenta que esas muertes no fueron accidentales, ni consecuencias colaterales de una mala política pública, sino absolutamente deliberadas y planeadas. Con acceso a archivos clasificados, testimonios de supervivientes y las detalladas investigaciones de académicos ucranianos repartidos por todo el mundo, Applebaum analiza cómo el Estado soviético orquestó la catástrofe para deshacerse de un problema político. Porque Stalin estaba decidido: Ucrania debía abandonar sus aspiraciones nacionalistas y eso pasaba por enterrar su verdadera historia junto a millones de víctimas inocentes. Definitivo y devastador, este libro captura el horror de gente ordinaria que luchó por sobrevivir un mal extraordinario. En un triunfo de erudición y empatía, Applebaum recupera una historia olvidada en un momento de crisis geopolítica entre Rusia y Ucrania que demuestra hasta qué punto el pasado moldea el presente. Reseñas: «Rusia no es la Unión Soviética, y los rusos de hoy pueden decidir si desean aceptar una versión estalinista del pasado. Pero para poder tener esaopción, necesitan una idea de la historia. Esta es una razón más para estar agradecido por este extraordinario libro.» The Washington Post «Excelente... La guerra, como Carl von Clausewitz afirmó de manera célebre, es la continuación de la política por otros medios. La política en este caso era la sovietización de Ucrania. Los medios: la inanición. El suministro de alimentos no estaba mal administrado por soñadores utópicos, sino que fue convertido en un arma de destrucción masiva. [...] Con impresionante lucidez, Hambruna roja demuestra las horrendas consecuencias de una campaña que buscaba erradicar el atraso llevado realmente a cabo por un régimen en estado de guerra contra su propia gente.» The Economist «Poderoso, implacable, impactante y convincente. [...] Consolidará su merecida reputación como la principal historiadora de crímenes soviéticos.» The Times «Escalofriante. [...] Una narración detallada y bien documentada. Applebaum ofrece una historia crucial para comprender las relaciones actuales entre Rusia y Ucrania.» Kirkus Reviews «Lúcido, sentencioso y poderoso. [...] Un excelente e importante libro.» The Wall Street Journal

Anne Applebaum (Author), Mara Brenner (Narrator)

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Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicolas II

Coryne Hall, John Van Der Kiste, John Van der Kiste (Author), Anne Flosnik (Narrator)

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Политическая география: Учебник

Политическая география — это наука о пространственной организации политической сферы жизнедеятельности общества. Дисциплина является вводной при изучении политологии, международных отношений и зарубежного регионоведения, поскольку дает системное представление о пространственной структуре всех уровней политических процессов и их базовых элементов: государствах, интеграционных объединениях, геополитических системах, регионах, границах, столицах, зависимых и международных территориях. Политико-географические знания лежат в основе теорий, объясняющих специфику внешне- и внутриполитической деятельности государств мира. Владение методами пространственного анализа позволяет выявлять закономерности политических явлений как на глобальном, так и на региональном и локальном уровнях. Учебник предназначен для студентов-политологов, международников, регионоведов и географов. Утверждено в качестве учебника Редакционно-издательским советом МГИМО МИД России.

игорь окунев (Author), павел константиновский (Narrator)

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In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918–1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust

In riveting prose, In the Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining moment of the twentieth century. Between 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were murdered in Ukraine and Poland by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbors with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely forgotten today, these pogroms – ethnic riots – dominated headlines and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true. Drawing upon long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders, acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers, and governmental officials, he explains how so many different groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was an acceptable response to their various problems.

Jeffrey Veidlinger (Author), Leighton Pugh (Narrator)

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Russia at War, 1941-1945: A History

In 1941, Russian-born British journalist Alexander Werth observed the unfolding of the Soviet-German conflict with his own eyes. What followed was the widely acclaimed book, Russia at War, first printed in 1964. At once a history of facts, a collection of interviews, and a document of the human condition, Russia at War is a stunning, modern classic that chronicles the savagery and struggles on Russian soil during the most incredible military conflict in modern history. As a behind-the-scenes eyewitness to the pivotal, shattering events as they occurred, Werth chronicles with vivid detail the hardships of everyday citizens, massive military operations, and the political movements toward diplomacy as the world tried to reckon with what they had created. Despite its sheer historical scope, Werth tells the story of a country at war in startlingly human terms, drawing from his daily interviews and conversations with generals, soldiers, peasants, and other working class civilians. The result is a unique and expansive work with immeasurable breadth and depth, built on lucid and engaging prose, that captures every aspect of a terrible moment in human history.

Alexander Werth (Author), Derek Perkins (Narrator)

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Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union-showing how Gorbachev's misguided reforms led to its demise In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four-million strong, five-thousand nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev's misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances-and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

Vladislav M. Zubok (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

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Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter: From the Battle for Moscow to Hitler's Bunker

On May 2,1945, Red Army soldiers broke into Hitler’s bunker. Rzhevskaya, a young military interpreter, was with them. Almost accidentally the Soviet military found the charred remains of Hitler and Eva Braun. They also found key documents: Bormann's notes, the diaries of Goebbels and letters of Magda Goebbels. Rzhevskaya was entrusted with the proof of Hitler’s death: his teeth wrenched from his corpse by a pathologist hours earlier. The teeth were given to Rzhevskaya because they believed male agents were more likely to get drunk on Victory Day, blurt out the secret and lose the evidence. She interrogated Hitler's dentist's assistant who confirmed the teeth were his. Elena’s role as an interpreter allowed her to forge a link between the Soviet troops and the Germans. She also witnessed the civilian tragedy perpetrated by the Soviets. The book includes her diary material and later additions, including conversations with Zhukov, letters of pathologist Shkaravsky, who led the autopsy, and a new Preface written by Rzhevskaya for the English language edition. Rzhevskaya writes about the key historical events and everyday life in her own inimitable style. She talks in depth of human suffering, of bittersweet victory, of an author's responsibility, of strange laws of memory and unresolved feeling of guilt.

Elena Rzhevskaya (Author), Angele Masters (Narrator)

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The Slavs and the Slave Trade: The History of Enslaved Slavs across Eastern Europe and the Islamic W

some historians have aligned the term Slav as deriving from descriptions of slaves: “The word “slave” and its cognates in most modern European languages is itself derived from “sclavus,” meaning “slav,” the ethnic name for the inhabitants of this region.” Some historians have outlined how they believe that Slavic slaves were used intensively in the ninth and tenth centuries and acted as a driver of Western European economic growth and allowed them to “emerge from the Dark Ages.” It is only fair to note that this assertion has been disputed. Separately, other scholars have asserted that Constantinople’s rapid rise to become one of Europe’s largest cities was fueled by a large supply of Slavic slaves. These trans-European routes diminished somewhat from the thirteenth century but demonstrated how common slave trading was in the region during these centuries. The majority of the people would have been kidnapped from Southeast Europe, as well as the Eurasian and Caucasus regions. Today, that encompasses Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic states, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and the states of the former Yugoslavia. Crucially, an important component of Slavic identity was the Christian faith, in particular Orthodox Christianity. In the medieval period, a slave trading network became more entrenched, transporting people from Slavic lands in Eastern Europe to the Mediterranean and beyond. The growing schism between the Catholic and Orthodox versions of Christianity made Orthodox Christians targets of the former’s slave traders. As a result, Slavic slaves were captured and taken to parts of Christian Spain, including Aragon and Valencia, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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Неудобное прошлое. Память о государственных преступлениях в России и других странах

«Неудобное прошлое» Николая Эппле – важная книга об исторической памяти и мифах, вошедшая в короткий список премии «Просветитель»-2021. Существует ли прошлое как объективная реальность? Ведь оно формируется памятью, а память предвзята и легко позволяет себя обмануть. И есть такое прошлое, с которым непонятно, как жить, – память о преступлениях, в которых виноваты не внешние силы, а твоя собственная страна. Помнить о жертвах и страдании вообще труднее, чем о героях и победах, но, чтобы преодолеть «трудное прошлое» и двигаться вперед, государству и обществу необходимо его оценить и осудить. Репрессиям советского времени в России до сих пор не дана единая юридическая и этическая оценка, значимая для всего общества. В результате молчания о прошлом, отсутствия возможности и желания искать общий язык для разговора о нем, сегодня в одной и той же российской семье один человек может считать сталинские репрессии мифом и «поклепом», в то время как для другого это была ежедневная реальность. Но Россия не первая страна, которая сталкивается с подобной проблемой. Исследователь мемориальной культуры Николай Эппле впервые на русском языке рассматривает опыт других стран в работе с памятью о государственных преступлениях. Описывая, как разные сценарии воплощались в разных политико-социальных обстоятельствах на примере Германии, Аргентины, Испании, Польши, ЮАР и Японии, Эппле намечает принципы, которые могут помочь России успешно изжить коллективную травму и преодолеть конфликт в обществе. Книга удостоена VI Публицистической премии «ЛибМиссия» в номинации «Аналитика» (2021).

николай эппле (Author), олег булгак (Narrator)

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Spymaster's Prism: The Fight against Russian Aggression

In Spymaster's Prism the legendary former spymaster Jack Devine details the unending struggle with Russia and its intelligence agencies as it works against our national security. Devine tells this story through the unique perspective of a seasoned CIA professional who served more than three decades, some at the highest levels of the agency. He uses his gimlet-eyed view to walk us through the fascinating spy cases and covert action activities of Russia, not only through the Cold War past but up to and including its interference in the Trump era. Devine also looks over the horizon to see what lies ahead in this struggle and provides prescriptions for the future. Based on personal experience and exhaustive research, Devine builds a vivid and complex mosaic that illustrates how Russia's intelligence activities have continued uninterrupted throughout modern history, using fundamentally identical policies and techniques to undermine our democracy. He shows in stark terms how intelligence has been modernized and weaponized through the power of the cyber world.

Jack Devine (Author), Noah Michael Levine (Narrator)

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Russia Audiobooks in History