A Kingdom and a Village

A marvellous book … It takes huge imaginative vision and a deep on-the-ground knowledge of Moscow, acquired over many years, to grasp the full dynamism of the city’s history. But Simon A Morrison has pulled it off. His ambitious, erudite account is vivid and compelling, a wonderful conjuring up of Russia’s great capital in all its beauty, fire and fury – Helen Rappaport, author of The Rebel Romanov
[A] sweeping, judicious and elegant history of Moscow from the origins of the city to the present day … Morrison is brilliant in chronicling, rhapsodizing and dissolving Moscow all at once * Times Literary Supplement *
[A] monumental, sweeping book … as much a history of Russia over the past millennium as a portrait of a city * Sunday Times *
[A] technicolour chronicle of Moscow * Economist, Best books of 2026 so far *
[A Kingdom and a Village] abounds in details that will surprise even the cultural insider… a brave undertaking amid the ongoing war and the shifting boundaries of Russian studies * Literary Review *
An engaging book … [Morrison] works hard and successfully lifts scenes off the page … The prose is a model of clarity * Spectator *
The erudition of A Kingdom and a Village …. is matched only by its readability * Financial Times *
Vivid and engaging … Morrison … brings [Moscow’s] streets to life * BBC History Magazine *
As Morrison shows in his technicolour chronicle of the city, beneath the petro-funded sheen, Moscow is a domain of purges, paranoia and ravenous power. History has shaped its character; equally, as much as that of any metropolis, Moscow’s character has shaped history, both Russia’s and the world’s * Economist *
A sweeping, near-encyclopaedic history … [Morrison] immerses readers into the past so deeply, they can see, feel, hear and even smell it … [An] engrossing biography of Russia’s capital … Morrison’s narrative is filled with arresting historical nuggets which throw an unexpected lift on the present * New European *
Russia is more than just Moscow, but it has long been its beating heart – at once bloody and life-giving – and this book captures its progress from insignificant hamlet to modern megalopolis magnificently. Every page pulses with individuals’ stories or historical insights, making this a wonderful biography of a city, its rulers and people – Mark Galeotti, author of A Short History of Russia
A preeminent historian of Russian history and culture, Simon Morrison is the perfect biographer of Moscow, one of the world’s most fascinating and enigmatic cities – Shaun Walker, author of The Illegals
A magisterial account of Moscow … gripping and enlightening … At a time when Russia is once again trying to remake the borders of Europe and the nature of politics in the world, Simon Morrison gives us a new way to understand this vast and ever-changing country through its singularly compelling capital city – Ben Rhodes, author of After the Fall
A sweeping history of Moscow that combines taut storytelling with penetrating analysis … Simon Morrison brings to life the contradictory legacies of power, violence and creativity that have shaped the city as a nexus of empire. A timely and indispensable guide for anyone wanting to understand Moscow – Rebecca Reich, Professor of Russian Literature and Culture, University of Cambridge
A gem of a book … With vivid writing and an astonishing body of research, Simon Morrison creates a mesmerizing tale of how Moscow came to be’ – Jill Dougherty, author of My Russia

Simon Morrison is a professor of music and Slavic languages and literatures at Princeton University. He is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and London Review of Books and has written for Time Magazine, New York Review of Books, and New York Times. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and holds a PhD and an MFA in Music History from Princeton University.

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