quare id faciam?

An eastward glance

It's been bookmarked for over a year, and now, last night, I've finally managed to get back around to a brief read of David Koyzis's A Capsule History of Russia, an overview he put together for his students. The title's apt: a great deal's compressed into a small space. The emphasis is on government & political development, as Dr Koyzis's field is political science. This weight on government doesn't distort the picture for a casual read like mine, I don't think. Descent through personalities in power and changes of regime, I suppose, is natural structure somehow for holding together in one's mind elements of the course of a nation's taking shape over time. Not of course that there aren't other useful angles by way of which to make account of or try to comprehend a nation's story.

I've had some exposure to Russian history in past – took an undergrad class in Russian culture & government in 1993 or '94 at the University of Baltimore – and the subject remains interesting to me, though now in quite a distant way. I'm grateful to have an overview like this so conveniently available, and from a source I know something about & have some confidence in. Of course, there are all sorts of ways I might follow up and reestablish this Russian bit of territory among my interests. But it took me many months, after all, just to get to this slender resource.

posted by paul bowman @ 1:37 PM