The Invention of Russia
From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War
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Narrated by:
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Michael Page
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By:
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Arkady Ostrovsky
About this listen
The end of Communism and breakup of the Soviet Union was a time of euphoria around the world, but Russia today is violently anti-American and dangerously nationalistic. So how did we go from the promise of those days to the autocratic police state of Putin's new Russia?
The Invention of Russia reaches back to the darkest days of the Cold War to tell the story of the fight for the soul of a nation. With the deep insight only possible for a native son, Arkady Ostrovsky introduces us to the propagandists, oligarchs, and fixers who have set Russia's course since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union yoked together dreamers and strongmen - those who believed in an egalitarian ideal and those who pushed for an even more powerful state. The new Russia is a cynical operation where perpetual fear and war are fueled by a web of lies. Twenty-five years after the Soviet flag came down over the Kremlin, Russia and America are again heading toward a confrontation, but this course was far from inevitable.
With this riveting account of how we got here - of the many mistakes and false promises - Ostrovsky emerges as Russia's most gifted chronicler.
©2015 Arkady Ostrovsky (P)2016 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union to its surprise and delight found itself in control of a huge swath of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to Communism, a completely new political and moral system. In Iron Curtain, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum describes how the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete.
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Important story, imperfectly executed
- By jackifus on 12-08-12
By: Anne Applebaum
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Lenin's Tomb
- The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
- By: David Remnick
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 29 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of John Reed's classic Ten Days That Shook the World, this best-selling account of the collapse of the Soviet Union combines the global vision of the best historical scholarship with the immediacy of eyewitness journalism.
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The moral complexity of a comic book
- By Tot on 02-22-19
By: David Remnick
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1946
- The Making of the Modern World
- By: Victor Sebestyen
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1946, Victor Sebestyen creates a taut, panoramic narrative and takes us to meetings that changed the world: to Berlin in July 1945, when Truman tells Stalin that we have successfully tested the bomb; to Ye'nan, China, in January 1946, when General George Marshall tells the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong that Americans won't send troops to China, assuring that the Communists will attain power.
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An education. Somber, detailed, many-faceted
- By Philo on 08-20-16
By: Victor Sebestyen
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The Brothers
- John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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John Foster Dulles was secretary of state while his brother, Allen Dulles, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this book, Stephen Kinzer places their extraordinary lives against the backdrop ofAmerican culture and history. He uses the framework of biography to ask: Why does the United States behave as it does in the world?
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A duel biography
- By Jean on 09-26-14
By: Stephen Kinzer
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The Crusader
- Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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God and Ronald Reagan made presidential historian Paul Kengor's name as one of the premier chroniclers of the life and career of the 40th president. With The Crusader, Kengor returns with the one book about Reagan that has not been written: the story of his lifelong crusade against communism and of his dogged and ultimately triumphant effort to overthrow the Soviet Union.
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Whether you like Reagan or not....
- By Daryl on 10-20-13
By: Paul Kengor
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Becoming Hitler
- The Making of a Nazi
- By: Thomas Weber
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In Becoming Hitler, award-winning historian Thomas Weber examines Adolf Hitler's time in Munich between 1918 and 1926, the years when Hitler shed his awkward, feckless persona and transformed himself into a savvy opportunistic political operator who saw himself as Germany's messiah. The story of Hitler's transformation is one of a fateful match between man and city. After opportunistically fluctuating between the ideas of the left and the right, Hitler emerged as an astonishingly flexible leader of Munich's right-wing movement.
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talented malevolence c a dash of amazing luck
- By emilio squillante on 11-05-18
By: Thomas Weber
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Hitler
- Ascent 1889-1939
- By: Volker Ullrich
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 34 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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For all the literature about Adolf Hitler, there have been just four seminal biographies; this is the fifth, a landmark work that sheds important new light on Hitler himself. Drawing on previously unseen papers and a wealth of recent scholarly research, Volker Ullrich reveals the man behind the public persona, from Hitler's childhood, to his failures as a young man in Vienna, to his experiences during the First World War, to his rise as a far-right party leader.
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Worthwhile if you haven't read a Hitler biography
- By Joshua on 11-03-16
By: Volker Ullrich
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Moscow, December 25,1991
- The Last Day of the Soviet Union
- By: Conor O'Clery
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The implosion of the Soviet Union was the culmination of a gripping game played out between two men who intensely disliked each other and had different concepts for the future. Mikhail Gorbachev, a sophisticated and urbane reformer, sought to modernize and preserve the USSR; Boris Yeltsin, a coarse and a hard drinking “bulldozer,” wished to destroy the union and create a capitalist Russia. The defeat of the August 1991 coup attempt, carried out by hardline communists, shook Gorbachev’s authority and was a triumph for Yeltsin.
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Gorbachev is GOD!
- By Rodney on 03-07-19
By: Conor O'Clery
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The Assassins' Gate
- America in Iraq
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Assassins' Gate, so dubbed by American soldiers, is the entrance to the American zone in the city of Baghdad. In 2003, the United States blazed into Iraq to depose dictator Saddam Hussein. But after three years and unknown thousands killed, that country faces an escalating civil war and an uncertain fate. How did it get to this point?
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Highly Recommended
- By Drapeau on 02-01-07
By: George Packer
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Children of Paradise
- The Struggle for the Soul of Iran
- By: Laura Secor
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The drama that shaped today’s Iran, from the Revolution to the present day. In 1979, seemingly overnight - moving at a clip some 30 years faster than the rest of the world - Iran became the first revolutionary theocracy in modern times. Since then, the country has been largely a black box to the West, a sinister presence looming over the horizon. But inside Iran, a breathtaking drama has unfolded since then, as religious thinkers, political operatives, poets, journalists, and activists have imagined and reimagined what Iran should be.
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Most Engaging
- By malita on 12-29-22
By: Laura Secor
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Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- By: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
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Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
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What listeners say about The Invention of Russia
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- INDUSTRIAL_FOX
- 01-21-18
Solid insight into the role of media in politics
Great book from a writer who understands Russian culture and history. His analysis of the role of media in creating a parallel universe to control elections is on point. My only issue is - as usual with audible books - the reader doesn't pronounce foreign names properly and when he does puts on a performative "foreign" voice. It's off-putting.
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- Jared L.
- 12-07-18
A case-study in the powerful effect of state media
A fascinating book on the history of modern Russia. The take home for me was the tremendous effect the state media had in swaying the understanding and will of the public.
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- Kindle Heideggerian
- 07-25-17
comprehensive
for those who want to know about the near failed state that is Russia and the "appeal" of a thug like Putin, this is a good place to start
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- Elliot B. Werner
- 07-28-17
Enlghtening and frightening
Detailed and frightening history of Russia's descent into fascism and it's threat to the rest of the world.
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- Mark Landrieu
- 03-29-22
very informative and insightful.
Russia can be complicated to understand due to massive amounts of propaganda. The accuracy of the rise and fall of communism is imperative to understanding the rise of Putin. The corruption of Russia threatens to corrupt other countries around the world. Putting and his Cadre of billionaires are actively investing billions of dollars abroad financially corrupting others. This book begins to explain how this is happening.
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1 person found this helpful
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- DM
- 02-01-19
A PERFECT example of how to voiceover a book.
Clear voice actor. Good pace. Great pronunciation skills. EQ on male voice actor is just right. All English with New England, USA, accent made it very relaxing for the ears. No background music.
Great job!
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- Lisa
- 03-01-17
Incredibly interesting!
Very informative and incredibly interesting. Although the book covers a very lengthy period of time, the author ties the narrative/central theme together very convincingly. I haven't read much about the history of Russia from a Russian/internal perspective. This book was very eye opening.
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- KPC504
- 03-19-18
A Wonderful Accounting of Media Influence
If you could sum up The Invention of Russia in three words, what would they be?
Media is Propoganda
Who was your favorite character and why?
There are no main characters to speak of in this book; there are definitely people who play their parts. However as each person plays their part, they eventually pass to the wayside. Instead, the main "character" the media in Russia. To this end, it is a great character arch: like a new born child, it is born in the dying Soviet Union; it has a blast of vibrant independence during the 1990s; finally, it is succumb by the realities of the world, becoming a tool of the powerful. A tragedy.
The author addresses a specific show political, tabloid news show in the book (I will leave it for you to find int he book) that parallels eerily the rise of similar shows in the US. It describes the assent of a bellicose and chauvinist announcer melodramatically playing martyr and champion simultaneously, while flashy lights and dramatic camera shots help keep mesmerized audiences stoked with anger and patriotic/political zeal, while neglecting critical thought. It is a great accounting of the process of how ultimately demagogues take control of a media outlet. It would be an intriguing story, but is seems pressing because of the sad reality of where it led in the Russian tale. One is left to wonder about the road that is being traveled in the US.
If you could give The Invention of Russia a new subtitle, what would it be?
How Russia Molded the Media that Molded Russia
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- nikomiko
- 03-13-24
Thoughtful
Loved the whole book. Arkady Ostrovsky is a wonderful, insightful writer. I have gone back to find his articles in the Financial Times and The Economist, including his podcast, Next Year in Moscow: not to be missed. I realize this is not so much a review of his book but a fan’s response to his writing in general, but he is compelling and I learned so much; I am grateful to people who can convey so much seemingly effortlessly. I’m sure it is not effortless, but reading/listening to him certainly is.
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- Alexander Ulanov
- 07-29-17
History of Russian media and journalism after end of
This book is an overview of history of Russia after the end of USSR. It is focused mainly on history of media and journalism, except for the first 4 years of Yeltsin reign. Some important events are briefly mentioned and other are covered from a single point of view. This might provide biased understanding. This shortcoming is can be tolerated because this is the only overview of that period of Russian history that I found on Audible.
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