In his timely new book Mikhail Shishkin argues that Russia is not a 'riddle wrapped in a
mystery inside an enigma': we just don't know enough about it. So what is the real story behind
Putin's autocratic regime and its invasion of Ukraine? In My Russia: War or Peace? Shishkin
traces the roots of Russia's problems from the 'Kievan Rus' via the Grand Duchy of Moscow
empire revolution and Cold War to the now thirty-year-old Russian Federation. He explores the
uneasy relationship between state and citizens explains Russian attitudes to people's rights
and democracy and proposes that there are really two Russian peoples: the disillusioned and
disaffected who suffer from 'slave mentality' and those who embrace 'European' values and try
to stand up to oppression. Both deeply personal and taking a broader historical view My Russia
is a passionate eye-opening account of a state entangled in a complex and bloody past as well
as a love letter to a conflicted country. Will Russia continue its vicious circle of upheaval
and autocracy or will its people find a way out of history - and how can we help?
