{"title":"Books by Sir Rodric Braithwaite","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781800811898","title":"Russia","description":"'Wise and thorough' Spectator'Brisk and readable ... very valuable' Financial Times'He is an engaging guide ... and writes with the same flair demonstrated in his previous bestseller Afgantsy' Sunday Telegraph'A scholarly yet highly readable gallop through the last 1000 years of Russian history ... To understand this tormented nation, you can do no better than read this illuminating portrait' Jonathan DimblebyWith its attack on Ukraine, Russia's future seems almost as uncertain as its past. The largest country in the world - with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons - has been known over the past thousand years as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago it was reinvented as the Russian Federation.Russia is not an enigma but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They too omit episodes of national disgrace in favour of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality.Expert and former ambassador Rodric Braithwaite unpicks fact from fiction to discover what lies at the root of the Russian story, more relevant to the rest of the world now than ever before.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128068604082,"sku":"9781800811898","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781800811898.jpg?v=1786027164"},{"product_id":"diplomacy","title":"Diplomacy","description":"Diplomacy is the delicate art of managing people and relationships. It is the greatest instrument we have for making and keeping peace, and to counter our adversaries. It's an indispensable skill - whether you're an ambassador, a business leader or a hapless spouse.  Sir Rodric Braithwaite, former ambassador to Russia and one of the most experienced diplomats in modern British history, dispenses his wisdom on the past, present and future of diplomacy. Reflecting on his experiences since 1955 - meetings with Kissinger, talks with the IRA and negotiations in Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed - he uncovers the essential qualities that make a world-class diplomat, and reveals what Britain must do next to keep good relations in unstable times.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57555324305781,"sku":"9781806494842","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-sir-rodric-braithwaite.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}