A Kingdom and a Village

[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

Times Literary Supplement

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

Sunday Times

[A] technicolour chronicle of Moscow

Economist, Best books of 2026 so far

[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

Literary Review

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

Spectator

The erudition of A Kingdom and a Village .... is matched only by its readability

Financial Times

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

BBC History Magazine

As Morrison shows in his technicolour chronicle of the city, beneath the petro-funded sheen, Moscow is a domain of purges, paranoia and ravenous power. History has shaped its character; equally, as much as that of any metropolis, Moscow’s character has shaped history, both Russia’s and the world’s

Economist

A sweeping, near-encyclopaedic history ... [Morrison] immerses readers into the past so deeply, they can see, feel, hear and even smell it ... [An] engrossing biography of Russia's capital ... Morrison's narrative is filled with arresting historical nuggets which throw an unexpected lift on the present

New European