The Icon and the Axe : An Interpretive History of Russian Culture

The subtitle of this book, "an interpretive history of Russian culture", accurately warns the reader about what he is going to encounter. It is not a Russian history book, and in fact you may want to keep an outline history of Russia handy to get names and dates straight. It is also rather different from the usual run of "cultural histories", whether topical, like A.L. Basham's admirable book, "The Wonder that was India" or Elizabeth Massey's bedside book on Russian culture, "Land of the Firebird." Billington has written an interpretive history. While staying within a chronological framework, he talks at length about various topics that he finds illuminating, even if they are out of the mainstream curriculum on Russian history, art or literature.

In the hands of some other writer, this could lead to an eccentric collection of pet subjects being aired for our review, but in this case the result is consistently absorbing and illuminating. In fact, the book is something of a Christmas turkey, cram packed with all sorts of odd snippets of lore about Russia; the notes alone are fascinating reading. And it all manages to hang together and create a coherent picture. Indeed, it sometimes seems that Billington is trying to create an image of Russia that haunts you in a sweet, melancholy sort of way, rather like a Tchaikovsky symphony.

In fact, you may feel it hangs together a bit too well; to the less romantically inclined, it may be a bit too pat. Certainly the same themes run through the book, and Billington himself refers to the "irony" of Russian history. But make no mistake - there is an incredible amount of scholarship here, to the extent that you find yourself wondering how one person could actually be so familiar with so much material. If you are the sort of person that loves things Russian to the point of being obsessive (and there are a surprising number of us out there) the book is a must read.

I had expected this book to be a more traditional political and military history, a "who and where" type. This book is actually a very thorough handling of Russian religion, art and literature. The author seems to assume that the reader already knows basic facts of Russian history, such as its leaders, its major wars, etc. However, even if the reader is not familiar with these aspects of history, the book is still very readable. I feel I have a greater understanding of Russian literature and culture than I might have with a more traditional history. It is unfortunate that the the book only covers up to the mid 1960s, because the events of the past 15 years are unprecedented since the revolution of 1917.

This is by far one of the best works out there on Russian history. Billington's discription of Russian culture helps the reader clearly understand Russian history, not only the when and what, but also the why. His coverage is very detailed and complete and taking into account the amount of information he provides, it is suprisingly easy to read. An excellent piece of work overall. Anyone interested in Russian history or culture should look at this book.