The complex and often turbulent history of Russia over the course of the last 2000 years is brought to life in a series of 177 maps. It covers not only the expansion of Russia wars and its war but also provides a wealth of detail on topics such as its history of famine and anarchism to the growth of its naval strength. From 800 BC through the fall of the Soviet Union to the present day, this indispensable cartographic guide to Russian history covers:

* War and conflict: from the triumph of the Goths between 200 and 400 BC to the defeat of Germany at the end of the Second World War, the end of the Cold War and the war in Chechnya.

* Politics: from the rise of Moscow in the Middle Ages to revolution, the fall of the monarchy and the collapse of communism.

* Industry, economics and transport: from the Trans-Siberian Railway between 1891 and 1917 to the Virgin Lands Campaign and contemporary oil and gas exploitation.

* Society, trade and culture: from peasant discontent and labor camps (gulags) to the geographical distribution of ethnic Russians and the Russian arms trade.

馬丁·吉爾伯特爵士，生於1936年，著名曆史學傢，著有81部作品，代錶作品有《丘吉爾的一生》《第一次世界大戰》《第二次世界大戰》《二十世紀史》《大屠殺：猶太人的悲劇》等。他是牛津大學默頓學院名譽研究員、密歇根希爾斯代爾學院榮譽研究員、丘吉爾傳記的權威作者。