Sign-In
Cart
Russian Tsardom: Antagonist of Western Civilization
Paperback
Series: Imperial Horizons. Russia and the World, Book 1
General ChristianityInternational RelationsRussian History
Publisher Price: $89.99
Publisher: Igor Arien
Published: Jul 8 2025
Pages: 534
Weight: 2.72
Height: 1.45 Width: 7.00 Depth: 10.00
Language: English
Russian Tsardom: Antagonist of Western Civilization brings to life the dramatic history of Russia as it forged its own unique path, often in opposition to the West. From the fearsome reign of Ivan the Terrible to the transformative rule of Tsar Alexei, this book offers a vivid portrait of a nation shaped by power struggles, faith, and the fight for identity.
Long before Marx and Lenin, Ivan Vasili's-son-better known as Ivan the Terrible-sensed the dangers of a world driven by greed. He saw how a wealthy, corrupt elite could tear society apart, and he predicted the conflicts and moral decay that unchecked profit-seeking would bring. His bitter disillusionment with England, after it abandoned him in his wars against Poland and other rivals, led him to value peace over wealth, even at great cost.
One striking moment came in 1581, when Ivan's envoy, Leonty Shevrigin, delivered a message to Pope Gregory XIII. By refusing to kiss the Pope's shoe, Shevrigin sent a powerful signal of Russia's determination to remain spiritually independent, highlighting the growing tension between the Orthodox and Catholic worlds.
The story also explores the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church as the heart of the nation. A wave of church and monastery building swept across the land, creating sacred places that shaped Russia's culture and identity. Ancient customs blended with the legacy of Byzantium, forming a society deeply rooted in faith and tradition.
Under Tsar Alexei (1645-1676), Russia underwent major reforms led by the ambitious Patriarch Nikon. His efforts to align Russian religious practices with Greek Orthodoxy sparked fierce resistance and brutal crackdowns, revealing the struggles between power and tradition.
Amidst this turmoil rose Stepan Razin, a bold Cossack leader who inspired the oppressed with promises of freedom. His rebellion swept through the countryside, but the dream ended in bloody battles against the Tsar's forces-a stark reminder of the high price of defiance.
Russian Tsardom concludes with the rise of the Romanov dynasty, showing how the legacies of Ivan, Alexei, and their successors continue to shape Russia today. This is the story of a nation's long, complex journey-forever wrestling with its past, its faith, and its place in a changing world.
Also in
Russian History
Dangerous Games: Faces, Incidents, and Casualties of the Cold War
Wise, James E.
Baron, Scott
Hardcover
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Higginbotham, Adam
Paperback
The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature
English, Charlie
Hardcover
Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall
Merriman, Helena
Paperback
The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I.
Paperback
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Browder, Bill
Paperback
The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I.
Paperback
The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 3]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I.
Paperback
Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook, 2nd Edition
Kudyma, Anna S.
Miller, Frank J.
Kagan, Olga E.
Paperback
The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-Lived Victory Over Totalitarianism
Zygar, Mikhail
Hardcover
Welcome to the Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity
Mathewes-Green, Frederica
Paperback
Our Dear Friends in Moscow: The Inside Story of a Broken Generation
Borogan, Irina
Soldatov, Andrei
Hardcover
The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice
Parkin, Simon
Paperback
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause (Pulitzer Prize Winner): The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement
Nathans, Benjamin
Paperback
The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West
Walker, Shaun
Paperback
The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West
Walker, Shaun
Hardcover
Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
Sullivan, Rosemary
Paperback
The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia
Jager, Sheila Miyoshi
Paperback
Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
Browder, Bill
Paperback
The Future Is History (National Book Award Winner): How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
Gessen, Masha
Paperback
Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire
Whitney, Catherine
Baier, Bret
Paperback
Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire (Large Print Edition)
Baier, Bret
Whitney, Catherine
Paperback
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause (Pulitzer Prize Winner): The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement
Nathans, Benjamin
Hardcover
The Return of Russia: From Yeltsin to Putin, the Story of a Vengeful Kremlin
Rodgers, James
Hardcover
The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power
Berglund, Bruce
Hardcover
The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World
Davies, John
Kent, Alexander J.
Hardcover
The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky
Kaufman, Andrew D.
Paperback
Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia's Collapse Into Mercenary Chaos
Rondeaux, Candace
Hardcover
When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry
Beckerman, Gal
Paperback
One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964
Naftali, Timothy
Fursenko, Aleksandr
Paperback
The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Heart of the Greatest Battle of World War II
MacGregor, Iain
Paperback
Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption
Pacepa, Ion Mihai
Paperback
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (Large Print Edition)
Gessen, Masha
Paperback
First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait by Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Putin, Vladimir
Gevorkyan, Nataliya
Timakova, Natalya
Paperback
Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters
Brown, Kate
Paperback
Dancing in Petersburg: The Memoirs of Kschessinska - Prima Ballerina of the Russian Imperial Theatre, and Mistress of the future Tsar Nicholas II
Kschessinska, Mathilde
Paperback
Lost Splendor: The Amazing Memoirs of the Man Who Killed Rasputin
Youssouppoff, Prince Felix
Paperback
Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918
Azar, Helen
Nicholson, Nicholas B. a.
Hardcover
Russian Literary Journals, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy in St. Petersburg, 1877
Mayhew, Linda M.
Paperback
What's Cooking in the Kremlin: From Rasputin to Putin, How Russia Built an Empire with a Knife and Fork
Szablowski, Witold
Paperback
Replaying the Second World War: Soviet Parallels and Inspirations for Russian Atrocities in the Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014-25
Drachewych, Oleksa
Paperback
Comradely Greetings: The Prison Letters of Nadya and Slavoj
Zizek, Slavoj
Tololonnikova, Nadezhda
Paperback
Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs--A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder
Mezrich, Ben
Paperback
Soviet Propaganda on American Screens: An Amkino Pictures Filmography, 1926-1940
Pitts, Michael R.
Paperback
Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on the World's Greatest Scientific Expedition
Bown, Stephen R.
Hardcover
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra
Rappaport, Helen
Paperback
Armored Forces of Russia and the Soviet Union: Tanks and Armored Vehicles (an Illustrated Guide, 1919-2025)
Schunkow, Victor
Hardcover
Mennonites in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union: Through Much Tribulation
Friesen, Leonard G.
Paperback
SIMO HÄYHÄ, The White Death: The incredible true story of the deadliest sniper ever
Larsen, Andrea
Paperback
Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler's War and Stalin's Peace
Gessen, Masha
Paperback
The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice
Parkin, Simon
Hardcover
Hardship to Homeland: Pacific Northwest Volga Germans (Revised, Expanded)
Scheuerman, Richard D.
Trafzer, Clifford E.
Paperback