New Books In Eastern European Studies

The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies (Routledge, 2025) edited by Alexander Hill brings together historical and contemporary essays about Soviet and Russian military studies, to offer a comprehensive volume on the topic. Comprising essays written by acknowledged specialists, the handbook examines the development of the Russian and Soviet armed forces from the Napoleonic Wars all the way through to the course and conduct of the ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine. Divided into thematic and chronological sections, the volume looks at wars fought by the Tsarist regime through to the First World War; the Soviet Union’s ‘Great Patriotic War’, from 1941 to 1945; the Cold War (including the Soviet war in Afghanistan); and Russia’s post-Soviet wars and military development. In addition, the volume also includes a section that analyses a number of ‘overarching themes’, including the development of Russian and Soviet airpower, partisan warfare, counterinsurgency and the role of women in Russ