Cultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union

The Russian Orthodox Church is currently celebrating its millennium, one that coincides approximately with the documented history of Russia itself. That 1000-year history - both political and cultural - is the principal subject of this volume. After due acknowledgment of the Hellenistic, Slav, Viking and Byzantine backgrounds, the historical account opens with the conversion of Rus to Christianity in the 10th century and with the early centers of civilization at Kiev, Novgorod and Vladimir. Two centuries of Tatar rule divide the fall of Kievan Russia from the rise of Muscovy, but the medieval period of Russian history does not fully end until after the accession of Peter the Great in 1682. Peter's reforms and extrovert policies, precursors of late 20th-century development, suddenly projected Russia onto the center stage of world politics - a position which, for better or worse, it has never relinquished. An opening section of the atlas provides the geographical and ethnic context for the cultural history that follows, the book ends with a spectacular portrait in maps, text and pictures of each country within the former Soviet Union today.