The Crisis of Medieval Russia, 1200-1304

By John L.I. Fennell

John Fennell's history of thirteenth-century Russia is the only detailed study in English of the period, and is based on close investigation of the primary sources. His account concentrates on the turbulent politics of northern Russia, which was ultimately to become the tsardom of Muscovy, but he also gives detailed attention to the vast southern empire of Kiev before its eclipse under the Tatars. The resulting study is a major addition to medieval historiography: an essential acquisition for students of Russia itself, and a book which decisively fills a vast blank on the map of the European Middle Ages for medievalists generally.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0582481503
• ISBN13: 9780582481503
• Release Date: May 1983
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent overview of the period before the Mongol Conquest

Fennell's book is a phenomenal overview of the period before the Mongol's invaded Russia, but focuses more on the decentralization of the Kievan state prior to the Great Invasion. This history does not privelege the Mongols with the transformation of Russia into an autocracy, but instead focuses on the internecine conflicts that resulted from the Rota system as the primary cause of the downfall of Kiev. Essential reading for historians of Medieval Russia.