Since I didn't know anything about Russian history before I listened to this course, I'd consider this a good 101-level introduction. I left with an overview of the major events and cultural movements in the past three centuries. Now I would like to learn about the formation of Russia in earlier times, and a deeper dive into the politics of the 20th century.

I didn't give this five stars because of two problems.
1) use of the word "backward" to describe everything from education, agriculture and gender relations, to literacy, religion and politics. Not only is it a rude word, it's also uninformative and vague. There are so many other adjectives; in fact, I made a list:
Patriarchal
Sexist
Superstitious
Rudimentary
Unindustrialized
Autocratic
Old-fashioned
Traditional
Conservative
Close-minded
Narrow-minded
Inflexible
Hierarchical
Classist
Distrustful
Suspicious
Uneducated
Illiterate
Insular
Isolated

2) Lots of different definitions of "communism" were clearly at play in the 20th century in Russia and the prof did not elaborate on defining what the word meant when used by different people. For example, Stalin defamed Trotsky by calling him a capitalist, and Stalin also installed a class system that rewarded upper-ranking individuals with greater access to material goods--of course that doesn't mean that the economic policies of the country weren't communist, but it's a word that carries implications beyond the economy when you are weaponising it against political adversaries, and that's what I would like to learn about.