A history of Russia from its beginnings in the 6th century AD to the 1917 Revolution and the birth of the Soviet State, the era of Stalin and the dawning of Glasnost in the 1980s. It uses chronicles etched on parchment in distant monasteries, the hidden wisdoms of folksongs, private letters from refugees, conversations and notes from writers, actors, musicians, bringing Russian culture from the past into the realities of the 20th century. The people themselves speak out and tell their story. Alongside the story itself, illustrated essays by historians unravel the political and social background of this land: the mysterious origins of the Slavic people, the horrors of serfdom, the Orthodox Church, the quiet plays of Chekhov set in the plains of the Russian countryside, the brutality of the pogroms and the dawning of Glasnost.