A Kingdom and a Village

A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow

De: Simon Morrison

Narrado por: Curt Ford

Brought to you by Penguin.

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. A Kingdom and a Village vividly brings to life Russia’s heart and soul, tracing its transformation from a ‘big village’ into a metropolis of vast geopolitical import.

It is a stranger-than-fiction arc. The last century alone has featured invasions and battles, the destruction and reconstruction of sacred 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 following centuries, any number of external forces – from Tatar Mongols and Swedes to Napoleon and Hitler – set their sights on Moscow, bolstering its self-conception as a glittering prize and site of perpetual defence and resurrection.

Understanding Moscow not only unlocks the spellbinding mysteries of Russia’s past, but also the grim logic of its present. A Kingdom and a Village is an essential guide to a people and a nation.

'A marvellous book' HELEN RAPPAPORT, author of The Rebel Romanov

‘Every page pulses with individual stories and historical insights' MARK GALEOTTI, author of A Short History of Russia

‘Morrison is the perfect biographer of Moscow’ SHAUN WALKER, author of The Illegals

© Simon Morrison 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Reseñas de la Crítica

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

[A] monumental, sweeping book … as much a history of Russia over the past millennium as a portrait of a city

[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

An engaging book … [Morrison] works hard and successfully lifts scenes off the page … The prose is a model of clarity

Vivid and engaging … Morrison … brings [Moscow’s] streets to life

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)