Download or read book The Russian Tragedy written by Hugh Ragsdale and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 1996 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A well-written interpretive history of Russia from earliest times to today--a recounting of the story of Russia's past that is rich with insights into the nation's present torment. The author discusses Russia's strengths and weaknesses as a civilization, the dilemmas that have always confronted it, and the challenges posed by the contemporary effort to remake Russia. In ten chronological and thematic chapters, the author --describes the distinctive nature of Russia's experience as an Eastern civilization, of Europe, but not of the West; --evokes the ways in which Russia's culture, especially its rich literature, has both embodied and expressed the nation's ambivalent identity; --chronicles the periodic efforts of the Russian state, over three centuries, to catch up with the West without becoming Western; With grace and good sense, Ragsdale revisits the past not to explain, justify, or condemn, but to illuminate the present.