Presented by Penguin.

Russia is an exceptional country, the biggest in the globe. It really is both Western and exotic, powerful and weak, outstanding and flawed. What makes we so scared of it?

Time and again, we judge Russia by unique standards. We’ve usually assumed it possesses higher levels of cunning, malevolence and brutality. The country has generally been an essential ally, not least against Napoleon and in the two world wars. We admire its music and its own writers. We luxurious praise around the Russian spirit. But still we think about Russia as a distinctive menace. The facts about this extraordinary country that consistently provokes such extreme responses? And just why is this therefore dangerous?

Ranging from the earliest times for this, Tag B. Smith’s exceptional new book is usually a history of this ‘Russia Stress and anxiety’. Whether ally or foe, superpower or failing state, Russia grips our creativity and fuels our worries unlike some other country. This book shows how history itself gives a clearer watch and an improved future.