Good American overview of Russia

Professor Hartnett does a good job of going through much of Russia’s long history. She hits all of the most important points and brings in some interesting points too.

The one weakness in her approach is her almost exclusive reliance on modern American academics for interpretation of Russian events. I get that she publishes in American journals and so she both wants to cite to cite the American academic colleagues she knows and quote them to advance her own career (it’s academia, that’s how it works), but it gets to be a bit jarring that after quoting a Russian novel, poem or speech, she turns to an American academic to put the work in context. Didn’t RUSSIANS have anything to say about their history? Quoting modern scholars from USC, Villanova, or the Library of Congress gives the whole affair a “modern American” interpretation, rather than hearing how Russians (contemporary or modern) view their own history and culture. A stronger approach would use less (perhaps none?) academic commentary and more first hand accounts (both Russian and non-Russian) of how actions and decisions affected them.

74 people found this helpful

Good overview/info with increasingly annoying delivery

Enjoyable enough material covering wide range of topics and broad timeline. The course was easy enough to listen to several hours at a time with varying levels of attention without feeling lost. Narrator wasn’t terrible (at first) but was neither a joy to listen to. I like it when narrators don’t sound like they are reading every word from a script (this one does) and have a more natural and engaging delivery. At around the midpoint of the course, the vocal repetitive habit of putting emPHAsis (and raising pitch in addition to volume) on random sylLAbles got VERY annoying (as did the overuse of emphasis for no reason, sounded very unnatural). Bizarre use (and overuse) of the term, “elites.” No/few interesting tidbits, a pretty straightforward history review.

10 people found this helpful

Just alright

I chose this course because I am very interested in better understanding the history of Russia and particularly its people. While I learned a lot I was disappointed because I thought the materials were not well organized and a bit disjointed. As another reviewer noted there is a fair amount of redundancy. While I would expect some second mentioning of events or persons to refresh the listener's recollection of materials covered earlier in the course, repetition in this course was more than one would expect and at times seemed like a retelling of entire portions previously discussed. That contributed to my sense that the materials could be better organized and streamlined without the loss of a listener's understanding.

2 people found this helpful

informative, but repetitive

An informative, interesting read, but the professor repeats a lot of information in every lecture

1 person found this helpful

So Russia is bad?

I think there could be more information about positive achievements of Russia. I don't know the history, but I think American historians are biased.

5 people found this helpful

Stay with it...I'm glad I did

I have to say that the instructor and narrator, Professor Hartnett, had a style with which I wasn't immediately comfortable. Nothing wrong with the content, but you can feel the passion she has for the subject matter and it was a little high energy for me, in the early stages. With that said, I came into this with a higher than average understanding of Russian history (for an American) and learned a lot, by staying with the course. There is so much to hit and so many highs (and mostly, unfortunately) lows to hit over the course of the Russian experience that I commend Professor Hartnett in weaving in human touches, here and there, to keep the story alive and relevant. I was never bored and when you're listening to nearly 13 hours of lectures, it's a huge win.

Great introduction to Russian history and culture

I enjoyed how it focused on historical periods and then would dive into social and cultural topics. The historical context made the art more meaningful and gave a strong impression of the Russian culture.

Very good info overall, felt disjointed at times

I wavered between 4 and 5 stars on this because I did think the lecture series was high quality. I learned a lot, professor Hartnett! You clearly know your stuff, and it was an enjoyable series.

With that being said, it feels almost as though each individual lecture was made to be presented as a standalone entry. So there often wasn't the feeling of getting a coherent narrative that flowed from one lecture to the next. I also found myself pausing more frequently than I'd like and thinking, "Didn't she cover this already? Did I accidentally skip back?" in a new lecture when information covered in some previous lecture was presented again (to give context for the new stuff). If I was being introduced to these lectures one at a time and there was a gap of potentially weeks between them, this may be a helpful approach. But in a continuous listen, it can feel a bit jarring at times and takes away from the feel of this as a coherent lecture series vs a series of standalone discussions on Russian topics. I'd still recommend it highly though!

Awesome!

I was a little skeptical of a lecture course, but the performance was well spoken and kept my attention, and the structure and content of the course not only informative but entertaining. I absolutely recommend this course!

comprehensive presentation

Highly recommended for anyone who takes an active interest in world politics. to understand the present, one must understand the past. Perhaps more Western politicians should listen to this to better understand Russia today.