A curated list of dead trees.

I first developed a deeper interest in Russia and Eastern Europe in general in 2013. While this is a short span of time in comparison to other people who have been studying the political and geographical area of the former Soviet Union since the time when the Soviet Union still existed, I'd still say that I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort on learning more about and understanding Russia better.

I wish I could tell you a story about how a specific event impacted me or how something drove me towards learning more - but I'm far too lacking in creativity to come up with a moving fictitious anecdote that would sufficiently cover the truth, which is simply that for reasons unknown to me the subject happened to become my latest hyper-fixation which turned out to stay my hyper-fixation far longer than those usually happen to last.

But, as I began working in information security and being exposed to the activities of threat actors of all kind more and more, I realized that I was able to deduct a professional advantage from my frantic late night reading.

Cybersecurity has been changing significantly in the past 10+ years. It's become a significant geopolitical playground, and operations within "cyberspace" have become a vital tool in the toolbox of a lot of states.

Hence why, in my eyes, an (at least) fundamental grasp of geopolitics is an increasingly valuable asset to anyone working in this industry, even more so if you specialize in cyber threat intelligence. Because as much as analysts hate to hear it, threat intelligence isn't (well, not just) hoarding indicators of compromise in your favorite tool.

Being European one of the major adversaries is Russia. Which is not to say that they are the only "bad guys" around, or to say that the people Europe considers to be their allies aren't doing nasty things with computers. But Russia is overzealous, overbearing - and over here.

Hence a fundamental grasp of Russia's strategic culture and standard operating procedures as well as the cultural and societal background of their thinking ultimately enables defenders to better counteract malicious actions originating from Russian, or Russia-based, threat actors.

Throughout the years I tried to expand my fundamental understanding, especially by reading a number of books. I'm having a hard time pinpointing the exact number, but combining reading notes and counting physical books I own I'm comfortable to say that I have successfully passed the mark of "100 books".

I've read pretty much anything that I can get my hands on, ranging from the history of the Tsarist empire to contemporary analyses of how Putin deals with political dissent.

I was able to enjoy a number of fantastic reads, but there were also some books of questionable quality - which is an experience others have made as well. Over time I have encountered many people that were interested in learning more about Russia, yet often didn't know where to start or had some bad experiences that eventually put them off entirely.

Ending up recommending things somewhat regularly I decided that I might as well put together my recommendations in a more structured format so others could benefit from it as well, as a single, accessible resource. Which, ultimately, led to the page on this site titled "Russian Reading".

I know that I will never be able to compile a list that contains all noteworthy books dealing with Russian affairs while remaining useful. Hence I decided to concentrate specifically on areas that are relevant when it comes to the interactions between Russia and the rest of the world.

I focused on books that are, at least somewhat, readily accessible. There are a few excellent books out there that are unfortunately hard to get. Some of those can only be bought secondhand, while others are next to impossible to get ones hands on a physical copy. For some there aren't even really pirated digital versions available.

I am continuously working on improving the list, curating it by adding more books and better comments. I'm planning on eventually adding academic papers to the mix as well, maybe even recorded university lectures or conference talks. But that requires more research and will take a while.

I hope that this list might prove helpful to someone wanting to learn more about various things in relation to Russia. It's not about proclaiming myself a supreme authority on the subject, far from it, but rather me trying to help people to spend their valuable time on books that offer depth, accuracy, and fresh perspectives.

If you have suggestions for books that should be included or any other feedback, please feel free to reach out via Twitter or by sending me a mail.