Russka (novel)

Russka
First edition cover.
Author(s)	Edward Rutherfurd
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Historical novel
Publisher	Century Hutchinson
Publication date	July 1991
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	704 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 978-0-7126-2466-4 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	21293710

Russka is a historical novel by Edward Rutherfurd, published in 1991 by Crown Publishers. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller.

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 Popovs. Between them these five families span the main ethnic groups and social levels of the society in this northern empire.

Historical characters encountered through the narrative include Genghis Khan, Ivan the Terrible and his secret police, the westernizing Peter the Great, 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 is based on the Stroganovs. The noble who 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 978-0-7126-2466-4), 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

References

• Rutherfurd, Edward (July 1991). Russka (1st ed. ed.). London: Century. ISBN 978-0-7126-2466-4. 
• "Edward Rutherfurd books". Edward Rutherfurd official site. Retrieved 2008-02-21.