To truly understand today's Russia, it is important to look back through the centuries to the figures, events, and neighboring cultures that have shaped it into what it is today. Starting with the rise of the Rus in the first millennium, this book traces the first thousand or so years of Russian history. The rise and fall of Kiev as the Rus center, the Novgorod Republic, the Mongol Invasion, the rise of first Rurikid and then Romanov Muscovy, and the indelible influences of Peter I and Catherine II, both of whom earned the moniker "the Great" are all covered.