Hi /r/AskHistorians:
I'm taking a class on russian history and I'm loving it. I want to extend my knowledge on it, but there's so many books and essays on so many different parts of russian history that I don't really know where to start. Any recommendation would be hugely appreciated.
I'm going through all the russian history threads in this and other subs, but I wanted to ask directly anyway. Thank you!
The cambridge history of Russia may help you, it analyzes the broader picture of the russian history without sacrificing the details, so that could be a good starting point; for now I would avoid academic essays, they either tend to assume previous knowledge of the topic covered is too specific. However, I think you should be more precise in your question and tell what periods interest you the most and what level of complexity you want.
One of my favorite books on the institution of the tsar is Richard Wortman's Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy from Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II which is a survey of how the tsars' politics of self-representation.
fyi, there are several book recommendations in this sub's Book List