Russka (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Russka
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover.
author = Edward Rutherfurd
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Historical novel
publisher = Century Hutchinson
pub_date = July 1991
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 704 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 978-0712624664 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Russka" is a historical novel by Edward Rutherfurd, published in 1991. When publish by Crown Publishers in New York later in the same year the novel quickly became a New York Times bestseller. [cite web | title=Paperback Best Sellers: December 20, 1992 | last= | first= | work=NYTimes online | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4DE1239F933A15751C1A964958260 | date= | accessdate=2008-02-21 ]

Plot summary

The narrative spans 1,800 years of Russian history. The families that provide the focus for the story are the Bobrovs, Romanovs, Karpenkos, Suvorins and the Popovs. Between them these five families span the main people groups and social levels of the society in this northern empire.

Historical characters the go past in the course of the journey are Genghis Khan, Ivan the Terrible and his secret police, the westernizing Peter the Great, then Catherine the Great, and the Bolsheviks of the twentieth century.

The stories of different characters in those families use real known stories of different Russian families. For example the peasant family turned nobility thanks to their business are based on the Stroganovs. The noble which was a friend of Ivan IV of Russia and asked his territory to be part of the Oprichnina was also based on a member of the Stroganovs, but at a different period.

Publication details

*1991, UK, Century (ISBN 978-0712624664), pub date ? July 1991, hardback (First edition)
*1991, USA, Crown Pub (ISBN 978-0517580486), pub date ? September 1991, hardback
*1992, UK, Arrow Books (ISBN 978-0099635208), pub date 4 Jun 1992, paperback
*2005, USA, Ballantine Books (ISBN 978-0345479358), pub date ? Mar 2005, paperback

Footnotes

References

*cite book | title=Russka | last=Rutherfurd | first=Edward | authorlink=Edward Rutherfurd | publisher=Century | location=London | edition=1st ed. | date=July 1991 | id=ISBN 978-0712624664
*cite web | title=Edward Rutherfurd books | last= | first= | work=Edward Rutherfurd official site | url=http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/uk/books/russka.php | date= | accessdate=2008-02-21