The Lost Land
E-book, Czech
The Lost Land
Why did Russia break away from the Western world?
The entire Western world repeatedly struggles to understand modern Russia. However, analysts, commentators, and philosophers are having difficulty overcoming an obstacle that has led to the current confusion about Russian politics, society, and history: they interpret them through the prism of Western values, ideas, and experiences. However, Russian history and the present stand on different foundations, carry different traumas, and have different expectations and hopes. It is governed by dynamics that are often difficult for a Western observer to understand.
The book The Lost Country therefore tells the history of modern Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union from a Russian perspective. It depicts failed attempts to build a capitalist liberal democracy, Russians' disappointment with the unfulfilled expectations of the results of the post-communist transformation, and the gradual deepening of resentment towards the West. It describes how a former superpower almost fell to the bottom, how someone promised to restore its greatness and strength, and how they ultimately kept their promises — even at the cost of alienation from the democratic world. It commemorates the development of Russian civilization and the consolidation of its modern power in all spheres of society, from the army to the media to spiritual and moral life. The book thus tells the story of the gradual loss of a country that, according to Western ideas, was supposed to be integrated into the democratic world, but which it never belonged to and from which it remains distant.
They wrote about the book:
The history of modern Russia from an unusual perspective and in surprising contexts. Required reading for anyone who wants to understand events in Ukraine and in Russia itself.
- Zdenek Staszek, editor
Filip Scherf
Filip Scherf has long been involved in international relations in both Czech and foreign professional contexts, especially in Russia and the Eastern European region, with an emphasis on security and ethics. He works at the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom and lectures at Charles University in Prague. He worked in Russia for several years as a correspondent for British media, before that he was a researcher at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, at the RAND Corporation in Cambridge, and at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of St Andrews. He has published numerous professional articles in international publications. The Lost Land is his first book.
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