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Lost Kingdom

The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation

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Lost Kingdom

By: Serhii Plokhy
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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About this listen

 From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prizewinning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialism.

In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine -- only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today by delving into the nation's history. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin exploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy.

An authoritative and masterful account of Russian nationalism, Lost Kingdom chronicles the story behind Russia's belligerent empire-building quest. 19th Century 20th Century Eastern Europe Modern Politics & Government Russia Russian & Soviet World Imperialism Stalin Royalty Soviet Union Middle Ages War Socialism Eastern Europe

Critic reviews

"[A] sweeping study... Mr. Plokhy seeks to explain the centrality of the so-called western provinces to Russian identity. This is not merely an intellectual exercise but one closely linked to contemporary geostrategic debates. As Mr. Plokhy writes: 'The question of where Russia begins and ends, and who constitutes the Russian people, has preoccupied Russian thinkers for centuries.' ... his study...show[s] why this question is of such importance."—Wall Street Journal
"Plokhy eloquently relates the historical ebbs and flows of Russian nationalism and imperialism... [his] thorough historical analysis places President Vladimir Putin's 21st-century foreign policy in a firm historical context."—PublishersWeekly, starred review
"The kind of magisterial history that only a seasoned historian with full command of his field can writer... [a] masterful text."—Russian Review
"A timely work of impeccable research that elucidates the Russian impulse toward regaining lost lands under a powerful myth of origins.... Plokhy continues to show that he is the master of this terrain."—KirkusReviews
"In Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do -- make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive. He brings Russia's centuries of struggle with nationalism and imperialism into the near focus of Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Lost Kingdom carefully and colorfully relates how the fires of history and myth burned from before the first tsars to Peter the Great, through the Bolsheviks, World War II, and the fall of the Soviet Union. With Russia everywhere in the news today, and every pundit pretending to be an expert, Lost Kingdom is essential reading for those wishing to understand Russia beyond the headlines."
—Garry Kasparov, author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
"Lost Kingdom is an erudite exploration of the contradictions of Russian nationalism, whose history shows it to be both inclusive and exclusive, universalistic and identitarian, often in quick succession or even simultaneously. A master historian on top of his game, Serhii Plokhy lays out the challenges this past presents for transforming Russia into a better country for its people and its neighbors."
—Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World History
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this is a thorough and insightful study of Russia's history of considering itself a Kingdom and an Empire. The Russians are stuck in an identity crisis. Who are they if they are not a great power, if they are not an Empire - and without Ukraine they cannot be an Empire. Russia's love of and need for autocratic goverment was strong, and risked breaking down - hence the stiff Putin with his limited vision goes for more repression, Stalin style, rather than easing up and giving Russians the chance to learn choice and democracy. So sad, and it's killing Ukrainians, and Russians,and destroying a country - and to whose benefit. Not even Putin's, that pitiable, miserable thug. What a fate the Russians have, czars and would be czars.

So much help in understanding thsi Ukraine war

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Understanding the Russian leadership psyche is very hard work, putin is a nationalist and autocrat, fits nicely into the story of Russian leaders. Unfortunately he belongs in the 19th century.

Interesting but hard work

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This is a major survey of the construction of Russian by a leading Ukrainian American scholar. The book focuses particularly on

Excellent survey of the creation of the Russian national mythology

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Thoroughly fascinated by the story, I learned a lot of things.
One thing that bothered me as a Polish speaker with a decent grasp of Russian and Ukrainian, is the lack of experience of the person reading the book within the field of Slavic phonetics. it resulted in many names being mangled.

informative.

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