`a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' Churchill's assessment has for years typified many people's attitude towards Russia, this great land of bewildering contrasts. What other country has seen such extremes of imperial opulence and abject poverty, tyrannical power and subversive resistance, artistic achievement and economic crisis, glittering cities and desolate, frozen wastes? Where else has such dramatic political change occurred with such dizzying rapidity? Now, for the first time, the true story of this fascinating land is revealed. Russia: A History cuts through the myths and mystery that have surrounded Russia from its earliest days to the present, with startling revelations from classified archives that until recently were not even known to exist. Using the most recently available sources, with many pictures that have never before been published, a distinguished team of historians have stripped away the propaganda and preconceptions of the past to tell the definitive story of Russia, from Kiev and Muscovy through empire and revolution to communism and Perestroika, and the `new order' of the present day. The result is an absorbing account of the rise and fall of a superpower, and its impact on the peoples both within and beyond its borders.