[Danila]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought maybe I could be helpful.

To really understand Russian history one needs to read about the people and the culture. Many novels written throughout Russia's history provide insight into what was going on at the time in a way that a history book can't. Furthermore, many history books may be biased either in an anti-Soviet or pro-Communist direction.

For the period of the 1860s -- the emancipation of the Serfs -- I would recommend Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. I recommend it first because it isn't long and, though it's set almost 150 years ago, really provides an excellent window on the Russian outlook on life. Yes, it's still as pessimistic and hopeless as ever.

If you're willing to do more reading, there are the old well-known classics by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy which I don't think even need mentioning here. Great books but long and sometimes stray from the history too much.

In the 20th century there is the famous writer Solzhenitsyn. All of his work since Perestroika is pretty much garbage but in the Soviet years he provided inspiration to many people like my parents who were looking for someone to tell them the truth about their government. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch and Gulag Archipelago (is that the one you already bought?) are both excellent works and also easy reads.

I remember there was also a book written by Nikita Khruschyov's son which my father read and recommended highly. And Robert Conquest wrote some great material about the Soviet period like Reflections on a Ravaged Century and The Harvest of Sorrow : Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine which bares the truly murderous nature of the USSR.

I'll try to dig up the text I used for a Russian Imperial History class I took at Boston Univ. ages ago and see if it was any good. If anyone wants more literary suggestions and I'm not being too presumptuous in offering them, please ask and I'll be more than happy to provide.