Russophilia

I have long had an interest in Russian history and culture, going back to my undergraduate days at Bethel College, where I took a course in Russian history in the autumn of 1975. Two years later I took a concentrated summer course in Russian language at the University of Minnesota.

Since 1991 I have taught a course in Russian politics at Redeemer, although it has had more than one name, reflecting the huge changes in the part of the world once covered by the former Soviet Union. However, since I cannot presuppose much knowledge of Russian history and culture on the part of my students, I have decided to post a webpage offering A Capsule History of Russia. I will undoubtedly be modifying and adding to this page as need arises.

Incidentally there are lots of pages like this on the internet: Tsarevich Aleksei: Lenin's Greatest Secret. There are so many people claiming to be the lost son or daughter of the last Tsar, usually Aleksei or Anastasia, that they should simply put them all together on a single website and invite visitors to vote for their favourite. The fate of the late imperial family was so tragic and shocking that something in the human heart wishes desparately for survivors. There are plenty of people willing to pander to this wish for personal gain.

In the meantime there is so much richness to the Russian cultural tradition that anyone studying it will find it virtually inexhaustible.