A deeply learned yet highly readable and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics. An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city whose rich past offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics Moscow stands at the centre of a nation comprising eleven percent of the globe's landmass, eleven time zones, and nearly one hundred and fifty million people, some thirteen million of whom live in the capital. In A Kingdom and a Village, acclaimed historian Simon Morrison offers a vividly rendered history of Russia's heart and soul, tracing its transformation from a 'big village' - the demeaning nickname the St. Petersburg nobility gave to its provincial neighbour - into a spectacular metropolis of vast geopolitical import. That arc is the stuff of dramatic, violent, stranger-than-fiction historical narrative- the last century alone has featured invasions and costly battles, the destruction (and reconstruction) of sacred cultural and religious landmarks, and the collapse of the Soviet republic - not to mention the rise of an authoritarian leader who is a keen student of Russian history. Morrison reaches back to the city's founding as a fortress on a river nearly a millennium ago. In the centuries that followed, any number of external forces - from Tatar Mongols and Swedes to Napoleon and Hitler - set their sights on Moscow, bolstering its self-conception as both a glittering prize and a site of perpetual defence and resurrection. Drawing on a rich array of archival materials, Morrison shows us that to understand Moscow is not only to unlock the spellbinding mysteries of Russia's past, but also to grasp the grim logic of its present. A Kingdom and a Village is a magisterial biography of a place - and an essential guide to a people and a nation.

Details

ISBN13: 9781847926524
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 528
Edition:
Publication Date: 23 Jun 2026
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 24(H)x16.1(L)x4.5(W)765
Weight (gm): 765

Author Biography

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.

Reviews

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