The March of Muscovy

Ivan the Terrible and the Growth of the Russian Empire: 1400-1648

By: Harold Lamb

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

The March of Muscovy begins with a strange, exotic narrative of an isolated, primitive Slavic people living alongside an insignificant river on the edge of the great Eurasian forest belt. In his forward, author Harold Lamb writes, “In the beginning, there was only a town on a river, and not a very notable town at that. Upon that town of Moscow certain forces acted, and around it outward events took shape, resulting in migration and colonization across the breadth of the Eurasian continent, and even bridging the sea to the New World. What were those forces? Why did such a mass movement take place? And why did it move the way it did?”

In answering these questions, Lamb provides the background for the larger and more puzzling query: how was the giant Russian nation born, and how did it grow? To address these issues, the author has skillfully called forth the voices of contemporary visitors, merchants, Cossack explorers, diplomats from far away European courts, exiled priests, and the words from among the most acute Russian observers themselves. Lamb has a way of breathing life into the past, of combining the best of scholarly research with an artistic vitality and narrative velocity. The March of Muscovy is the story of the ambitious work that was begun by Ivan the Terrible. And Russia is a work in progress that continues to this day.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©1948 Harold Lamb (P)2022 Audio Connoisseur

Critic reviews

"Whether read as history, partial explanation of Russian aggression, or sheer golden story-telling, it is a delight."–The New York Times

Too Broad, Too Unacademic

This history is broadly told in a style more literary than historical that it makes it hard to follow the facts of the subject. I’m not one for super-academic audiobooks but I really prefer more scholarly discussion than this. Lamb’s histories are full of great generalizations and sweeping claims that actually undercut the listener’s ability to understand the subject matter. Its greatest virtue is that it’s the only book exclusively about this subject on Audible. Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.

History at its Finest

This is not a book to undertake lightly. It’s one that requires a great deal of concentration. There is music as a chapter interlude. And that can either be welcome or a distraction. But it’s like interactive history when one gets into it. The wild Russian empire comes alive with all its early warring and expansion. What a ride.

Masterful

Complex history but worth delving into it. Provides a good deal of perspective to the Russian mind. The author conveys well the fact that Russians have more in common with the Eastern cultures, despite their portrayal as a European society.