RUSSIA
 
Russia and the Russians
Geoffrey Hoskings
Comprehensive, interesting history by a leading historian
 
Sale of the Century
Chrystia Freeland
The ups and mostly downs of life in post-communist Russia by a Financial Times journalist
 
A dirty war
Anna Politkovskaya
Compelling and brave account of the Chechen war, which won Amnesty International's award for human-rights journalism
 
Lenin
Robert Service
Very readable biography of the Russian revolutionary leader
 
Ten days that shook the world
John Reed
Classic eyewitness account of the Russian revolution
 
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
 
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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The struggle for survival in a Siberian labour camp under Stalin; a fate suffered by millions of Russians