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The Compass: The Invention Of Russia: The Invention of Russia: The empire strikes back

Factual

The Invention of Russia: The empire strikes back

22/02/2023 GMT

The Invention Of Russia

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Invention Of Russia, The Invention of Russia: The empire strikes back

Misha Glenny looks at the development of Russia.

Russia's massive empire was not like that of Britain or France. It expanded across the land, making it more like the United States of America. And from very small beginnings, it became the biggest contiguous landmass in the world. 

Presenter Misha Glenny speaks to James Hill of the New York Times about travelling to the edges, and also to Janet Hartley, author of Siberia: A History of the People. Plus further contributions from Ukrainian academic Olesya Khromeychuk, Anna Reid, the author of Borderland and Leningrad, and the Tblisi-based journalist, Natalia Antelava, editor-in-chief at Coda Story. 

Producer: Miles Warde

(Photo: The imperial procession coming out of the Winter Palace to go to the Cathedral, celebrations for the 3rd centenary of the Romanov dynasty, St Petersburg, Russia, photograph by Bulla-Trampus, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XL, No 12, March 23, 1913. Credit: Getty Images)

The Compass: The Invention Of Russia

Countries look so cohesive on the map - sturdy borders, familiar shapes. Don't be misled. They didn't always look like this. This is the story of Russia, biggest contiguous country on the planet, told from the time when it was still very small. 

"In my producer's history textbook it says here, on page 18, that Russia as a political entity did not exist."

With contributions across the series from Janet Hartley, author of a history of the Volga; Rhodric Braithwaite, former ambassador to Moscow; historian and sociologist, Mischa Gabowitsch; Anthony Beevor; Natalia Antelava; Kateryna Khinkulova; Dominic Lieven; Olesya Khromeychuk; and James Hill of the New York Times.

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