The book “Understanding Russia” gives the reader the opportunity to receive thoroughly reasoned answers to the eternal questions that at least once in his life a more or less educated person who is not indifferent to the fate of his people and country asked himself: “Who are we, where did we come from and where are we going? ?? In this book you will not find sensational hypotheses designed to amaze the reader with a beautiful and vivid fantasy on the topic of our national destiny, but in fact having nothing to do with what really happened and is happening to us. In it there is no speculation on national pride that arouses ignorant national complacency. This book contains an extremely specific and objective analysis of the fate of the Russian nation, allowing a sober assessment of the roots of our national problems and possible ways to solve them. The book is also of interest to politicians seeking to bring real benefit to their country, business people building their business taking into account Russian specifics. In the presented work, the author reflects on the roots of Russian ethnicity, the formation and characteristics of Russian identity, how the statehood system took shape in Russia and its evolution. In the book you will find interesting thoughts about our military history and the competitiveness of Russia as a civilization. In general, this book will be useful to anyone who would like to simply understand Russia.