A History of Twentieth Century Russia - by Robert Service

[Comrade Raz]

I've recently come across this book in my dads libery (hes a bookseller so has lots of interesting books).

I was wondering if you guys knew if this guy is a trustworthy historian as im very interested in learning about Russia in the 20th century and where it all went wrong but dont want to learn about it from a biased westernized view that slags off communist ideas in every line.

[abstractmentality]

Robert Service also wrote Lenin: A Biography (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674008286/qid=1057190433/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-1434120-5947243), which i personally think is very fair towards Lenin. He is very critical of Lenin, but gives what i think to be a pretty unbiased report, except for a few sections. He strikes at Lenin when appropriate, but gives him credit when needed as well.

[RedComrade]

I have read the book comrade and I would suggest it as an introduction to Russian history, it is not for the professional but if you want a good intro its a great place to start. Its somewhat critical but free from all the preachy bullshit youd get from ideologues like Conquest and Pipes. I'd say its about as trustworthy as your gonna get on the subject.