This provocative portrayal of the background to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine emphasizes the broad patterns of history that shape the present. Authored by a Russian historian exiled at the onset of the invasion, the book is not a detailed or insider account of the decision to go to war as such. Rather, Sergei Medvedev presents the evidence that Russia’s tragic blunder bears the weight of its terrible history and thus represents more of a fulfillment of a sad destiny than a deliberate wrong choice. It is not so much about the invasion as an argument that the war on Ukraine expresses Russia’s dysfunctional politics and culture, grounded ultimately in its history.
For admirers of historical narrative based on big and original ideas, this book is a treat. Medvedev sees the key dates in Russia’s modern history as 1937 and 1945. The mobilization of the state as a terror instrument, he argues, abides. Its memory provides a template for those who control the state and a pattern that the ruled can recognize. As for 1945, it was the moment when Russia (in its Soviet avatar) manifestly was the indispensable nation, the driver of history. The current regime’s outrages reflect a faith that it can recover that status. The war embodies these seminal moments.