Rating: 
Summary: I recommend it to anyone! Best book I ever read.
Review: I first picked up this book at the library when I was doing research on russian history. After looking at the number of pages, I quickly put it down. It was only after I finished my project that I decided that I would buy the book because I found russian history so fascinating. I was not dissapointed. Mr. Rutherfurd goes into such detail that you grow to love the characters, you grow to understand russian culture so much more. So many people are still clinging to the steriotypes of Communist Russia: if they could read this book, I am sure that they would understand our friends in the east. What I enjoyed the most about the book was the fact that it was also educational. I even learned things that I did not discover in my studies. But that doesn't mean that if you know nothing about Russia that you won't understand the book, far from that. Rutherfurd takes the time to explain what is happening, so the reader is never lost. I'd recommend this book to anyone. If a 17 year old can read it and enjoy it, anyone can.
Rating:
Summary: Roots of Thought
Review: I have traveled to Russia five times in the past five years and have often marveled at their way of thinking. Russka does a wonderful (and delightful) job of exposing the roots of Russian Thought. Orthodoxy, the autocratic rule of the Tsars (and future leaders) and Russian Nationalistic Pride provide the three pronged stool Russian Thinking rests upon. Read this book to see these three legs masterfully crafted and united. It will open up to you the vast riches and complexities of mystrious Russia. Russka takes us past the Cold War stereo types and evening news sound bites to the heart of Russia, the struggles of her people and her political turmoil that seems unending. Russka is Russia with a human face. It is well worth the time invested in reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful trip back into time
Review: I just finished a wonderful trip back into time -- The settings, the people, even the smells of Russia came alive. When will this author write more?
Rating: 
Summary: Helps you understand the minds of comtempory Russians
Review: I love the way the novel is woven together, over hundreds of years, with the geniology of several family lines. However the author felt (and that is his creative right) that the most important charactors where the more modern ones. He gave the 19th century characters by far the most attention and the most pages. I would have liked to see a little more balance through the ages, and not as many holes between some of the generations.Beautifully written characters. Each chapter could have been expanded into its own novel. It must have taken great restraint for the author to limit the lenght.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly influential to a budding writer
Review: I read this book a few months ago, and I could not believe how insightful and detailed Edward Rutherfurd was, with such a vast canvas of land and history. Originally drawn to English history works, and very interested in Russian history, I have yet to be disappointed by Rutherfurd. Just like fellow reviewer Tricia, this book inspired me. I had added Russia to my list of countries to visit, and I've even set a piece of a novel in Russia, using some of Rutherfurd's details as inspiration. With his new book "The Forest" comes extra praise for his other English books. But Russka has touched me more than any of the others, because it tackles an issue too few would care to cover: Russia's extensive, backwards, and fascinating history.
Rating:
Summary: Makes history of Russia live through the lives of its people
Review: I teach a course on the "History of Russia Before the Revolution" to Senior adults at a local College's Institute for Life-Time Learning. I am recommending this book as "the text" for the course because of the accuracy of the historical content and the humanizing of the events
Rating:
Summary: Lost in Russia
Review: I was looking for a novel that would, hopefully, possess me. I was traveling to Russia, and I wanted an education in Russian history while enjoying a great story. This book delivered. It gave life, history and understanding to my trip. It stays with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Fine Read, But Pale Imitation of Russian Originals
Review: I was very, very sceptical of Russka from the moment it was first published. It would be impossible, I thought, to novelize over a thousand years of incredibly rich history. The novel would have to be a resounding disappointment. And so, despite my deep love of Russian history, I refused to buy Russka until I saw it for a quarter at a used book sale. I'm pleased to say my expectations were wrong. Rutherfurd has, remarkably, created a novel that covers a broad range of history without losing much of the excitement that pervades each era. Russka is a series of vignettes, each one skipping as much as nine hundred years or as little as twenty years and, with the exception of the very first story, all entertain and occasionally move. All the while the background of history unfolds remarkably accurately, with only one minor exception that I noticed. Russka has two serious shortcomings, however. First, Rutherfurd, perhaps believing he is the equal of Tolstoy (War and Peace) and Solzhenitsyn (August 1914), consistently interrupts the narrative for a history lesson. While such history lectures are, perhaps, necessary, coming as they do during the stories themselves. Tolstoy, at least, relegated his history discourses to separate chapters, giving the reader the option of reading them or not. Second, too much of Russka, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, is recycled material from great Russian novels. There is a Pechorin-type fatalist from Lermontov's Hero of Our Times. There's an Oblomov, fat and lazy. There's a revolutionary from Dostoevsky's The Possessed and a father/son conflict that is almost a carbon copy of Turgenev's novel. There's even a woman throwing herself under a train ala Anna Karenina. In each and every case, the Russian original is leagues better than Rutherfurd's retelling. Readers looking to become immersed in Russia of the 19th and 20th centuries would be much, much better served reading Lermontov, Goncharov, Gogol, et al. than Rutherfurd. And there's a third failing. The revolutions of 1917, which changed Russia (and the world) forever receive remarkably little attention, and the Communist era with NEP, Stalinism, the Great Patriotic War, the Thaw, stagnation, and perestroika receive practically none at all. For a novel that appears to be about the impact historical forces have on individuals, this lack is especially staggering. At no time in human history have so many people had their lives deeply affected for so long by a system of government, yet Rutherfurd chooses to mostly ignore it. Very disappointing. With all of that being said, for those who want a flavor or Russia without going to the originals could do much worse than Russka. As entertainment, it works, and it was definitely worth the price I paid.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Read, But Pale Imitation of Russian Originals
Review: I was very, very sceptical of Russka from the moment it was first published. It would be impossible, I thought, to novelize over a thousand years of incredibly rich history. The novel would have to be a resounding disappointment. And so, despite my deep love of Russian history, I refused to buy Russka until I saw it for a quarter at a used book sale. I'm pleased to say my expectations were wrong. Rutherfurd has, remarkably, created a novel that covers a broad range of history without losing much of the excitement that pervades each era. Russka is a series of vignettes, each one skipping as much as nine hundred years or as little as twenty years and, with the exception of the very first story, all entertain and occasionally move. All the while the background of history unfolds remarkably accurately, with only one minor exception that I noticed. Russka has two serious shortcomings, however. First, Rutherfurd, perhaps believing he is the equal of Tolstoy (War and Peace) and Solzhenitsyn (August 1914), consistently interrupts the narrative for a history lesson. While such history lectures are, perhaps, necessary, coming as they do during the stories themselves. Tolstoy, at least, relegated his history discourses to separate chapters, giving the reader the option of reading them or not. Second, too much of Russka, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, is recycled material from great Russian novels. There is a Pechorin-type fatalist from Lermontov's Hero of Our Times. There's an Oblomov, fat and lazy. There's a revolutionary from Dostoevsky's The Possessed and a father/son conflict that is almost a carbon copy of Turgenev's novel. There's even a woman throwing herself under a train ala Anna Karenina. In each and every case, the Russian original is leagues better than Rutherfurd's retelling. Readers looking to become immersed in Russia of the 19th and 20th centuries would be much, much better served reading Lermontov, Goncharov, Gogol, et al. than Rutherfurd. And there's a third failing. The revolutions of 1917, which changed Russia (and the world) forever receive remarkably little attention, and the Communist era with NEP, Stalinism, the Great Patriotic War, the Thaw, stagnation, and perestroika receive practically none at all. For a novel that appears to be about the impact historical forces have on individuals, this lack is especially staggering. At no time in human history have so many people had their lives deeply affected for so long by a system of government, yet Rutherfurd chooses to mostly ignore it. Very disappointing. With all of that being said, for those who want a flavor or Russia without going to the originals could do much worse than Russka. As entertainment, it works, and it was definitely worth the price I paid.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating introduction to old Russia
Review: I'm a history buff but not very familiar with Russian history. I found this a very engrossing book, much in the style of Michener's books. I was fascinated with the early portions of the book, beginning with the predecessors of the Golden Horde, continuing on through the era of Peter the Great. It shows the cruelty & magnificence of Mother Russia in her glory, touching on the plight of the serfs & the magnificence of the ruling class. It really piqued my interest in reading further on those eras in Russian history. My only criticism is that the book bogs down a bit as it reaches the late 1700s. The families become less interesting, & even their "contact" with Catherine the Great isn't particularly interesting. It gets confusing with the introduction of Marxists during the 1800s, although it probably reflects the confusion felt by those actually living through that period of time. There is virtually nothing about Communism after the fall of Nicholas, although most of us are familiar with the realities of that period. It would also make for a good sequel--following the families through that era (& WWII)! But, it's a great read overall. I highly recommend it. And as I said, it made me a Russian history buff.
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