Owen Matthews Owen Matthews

The Russian enigma

Nothing is certain in a country where the past is constantly rewritten, says Owen Matthews

Credit: Getty images

  • Russia – Myths and Realities: The History of a Country With an Unpredictable Past

    Rodric Braithwaite

    Profile, pp. 224, £16

  • The Shortest History of the Soviet Union

    Sheila Fitzpatrick

    Old Street, pp. 256, £12

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