The Burning Archive

What are the origin stories of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus? They all make a claim on the legacy of Kievan Rus, the loose grouping of warring principalities and many ethnic groups that formed in the territory between Novgorod and Kiev between 900 and 1200. This story has often been told for nationalist myths, but its more complex and layered story - still relevant to the Russia-NATO-Ukraine War today - is that all political cultures are plural. Along the way you will also hear a fragment from the 'Lay of Igor's Campaign' - the epic Russian medieval poem whose sole surviving copy was not saved from the burning archive caused by Napoleaon's invasion of Moscow. This episode is the 11th in my series on the Black Legend of Russian History. The next and final episode in the series, coming after Christmas, will be a wrap up of the most recent episode in Russian history - the war in 2022. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive You can buy my new book From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2021

For 250 years from the 1220's Russia and Ukraine were both controlled by the Mongol Empire, the successors to Genghis Khan, the Golden Horde. Traditionally, this period has been described by the term coined by nationalist historians, the Mongol or Tatar Yoke. But, in truth, this period did not subject Russia to a benighted warrior empire. It connected Russia to the greatest Eurasian power of the time. And it led to a creative, prosperous, civilised time of successful institution-building. The Mongol Yoke is now seen as the period of the Mongol Exchange - perhaps a precursor to the growing Eurasian cooperation of today. The story of how the Horde changed the world, and was decisive for the development of a multi-ethnic Russian empire centred on Muscovy (Moscow) is told in Marie Favereau, The Horde: how the Mongols Changed the World (2021). It is well worth a read, and you can buy at the Amazon affiliate link. This episode is the 10th in my series on the Black Legend of Russian History. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive  You can buy my new book From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2021

Ivan the Terrible is a key figure in Russian history. To understand him you need to separate man and myth. To strip the myths away, you need to see Ivan not as an evil monster, but rather as an erratic Renaissance Eurasian prince. In this 9th episode in the ‘Black Legend of Russian History’ series, and part two of the extended podcast on Ivan IV, the Burning Archive discusses the puzzles of Ivan IV’s power, violence, mind, repentance, death and legacy. Full details of further reading on Ivan IV are at https://theburningarchive.com. I am also now releasing video versions on the podcast on my YouTube channel @theburningarchive. You can also see other stories of the multipolar world there. You can buy my newly released book, From the Burning Archive at Amazon and other online retailers. It includes essays on Ivan IV and many other intriguing topics in history, culture and society.

Ivan the Terrible is a key figure in Russian history. To understand him you need to separate man and myth, and there are many myths because all we know about Ivan is based on very limited evidence. And to strip the myths away you need to see Ivan not as an evil monster, but rather as an erratic Renaissance Eurasian prince. In this 8th episode in the 'Black Legend of Russian History' series, the myths about Ivan are outlined, and then the stranger stories of his life are told. More details are available at theburningarchive.com You can buy my newly released book, From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022 at Amazon here and other retailers.

In the early 1600's Russia suffered a traumatic civil war, political instability and social chaos. This period is known as the Time of Troubles. It left a mark on Russian political institutions and historical culture. But most of all it featured remarkable characters - the self-made Tsar, Boris Godunov; his sister, the first female ruler of Russia, Irina Godunova; and, most enigmatically of all, the claimant to the throne, known to history as False Dmitri. This story can only be fully understood, however, by investigating two murder mysteries, both involving the sons of Ivan the Terrible. In preparing this episode, I used Chester Dunning, Russia's First Civil War: the Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty, and Mark B. Smith The Russia Anxiety, and how history can resolve it. They are brilliant books, do check them out. Music - brief excerpts from Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov, Vienna Philharmonic You can find out more about all my content here.  Check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive. Follow me on twitter @ArchiveBurning

Peter the Great and Catherine the Great dominated Russia's 18th century. The remarkable transformations of Russian government, society, empire and culture that they led are symbolised in the astonishing statue of the Bronze Horseman in St Petersburg. The statue was a gift from Catherine II to Peter I, and it represents the power, energy and military prowess with which Peter transformed the Russian state. But it also represents the genius with which Catherine the Great presided over the Russian Enlightenment. As part of the continuing series of telling Russian History backwards and debunking the 'Black Legend of Russian History, Jeff Rich tells the tale of Russia's 18th century when there was one great Emperor and four remarkable Empresses. The music at the start and end of the show is from The Story of Tsarevich Fevey, was set to music by Vasily Pashkevich (court composer for Peter III, Catherine the Great's husband), courtesy of YouTube. Catherine the Great composed the libretti.  I read from Pushkin, "The Bronze Horseman" from The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015), and Dominic Lieven, In the Shadow of the Gods: the Emperor in World History (2022). You can explore all of Jeff Rich's work at https://linktr.ee/burningarchive.

Part Two of this extended episode on Russian history in the global 19th century examines the debate between Westerners and Slavophiles, the divide between peasant serfs and urban commerical intelligentsia, and the complex relationship between empire and nations in the Russian empire. And we briefly examine the true history of Russia's defeat of Napoleon and liberation of Europe, that contains lessons for security in Europe today.

Tolstoy's War and Peace is a symbol, a reflection and an expression of a Russian Golden Age in the 19th century. Its story of the events of Russia's defeat of Napoleon's invasion of 1812 is well-known, and this great novel is one of many great cultural artefacts of an extraordinary cultural flowering of the Russian Empire. Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Tchaikovsky, Mendel and so many more. The real history of Russia in the nineteenth century is even more intriguing than Tolstoy's novel, and far richer than the autocratic black legend of Russian history. This two-episode discussion explains the big events from the assassination of Emperor Paul I in 1801 to the ascension of the last Romanov, Nicholas II. And it presents both the myths and the truths of Tolstoy's War and Peace, as empire, nation, conservatism, liberalism, intelligentsia and serfs struggle for the spirit of the Russian people.

This episode of the Burning Archive reports on the results of all the 2022 Nobel Prize, but most of all on the wonderful choice to award the medal for Literature to Annie Ernaux. I read a short section from Annie Ernaux, The Years, and stay tuned to the end when you will hear briefly from Annie Ernaux herself reading from the same text in French.

The Burning Archive looks ahead to Nobel Prize week, and reviews predictions and the odds of who will win the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature. I also take a brief look at the controversy behind the Nobel Peace Prize. Regular listeners, please note the Burning Archive will be taking a one month release break until early November when the podcast will review the 2022 Winners of the Nobel Prize, and will resume the series of podcasts on Russian history.