L. V. Klimovich. Historian Nikolai Ivanovich Ulyanov — Life as an “Adventure Novel”.
Book review: Bazanov P. N. Protection of the Unity of Russia: The Life and Work of Historian
Nikolai Ulyanov. St. Petersburg: Rostock publ., 2025. 688 p. // Petersburg Historical Journal,
no. 2, 2026, pp. 242–249.

DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_2_242

Abstract:

The reviewed book is a documentary investigation of the biography of Nikolai Ivanovich
Ulyanov, a prominent representative of the Russian emigration of the second wave, a historian, cultural critic, and public figure. Drawing upon a plethora of unpublished sources, the eminent specialist in the history of the Russian diaspora, P. N. Bazanov, chronicles the life of his subject, who was born in the Russian Empire, was apprehended and incarcerated in the USSR, twice escaped from German captivity, was abducted by the Nazis to work in Germany, was designated a “displaced person”, and subsequently became a prominent researcher on the history of Russia, issues of state integrity, and problems of Ukrainian separatism. The review concludes that the book has indisputable advantages, namely reliability, maximum objectivity, consistency, correctness of presentation and conclusions drawn from a wide range of sources and research literature.

Key words: Russian history, Russian emigration, Russian cultural figures, Ukrainian separatism,
N. I. Ulyanov, Russian Abroad, publishing.

Author:

Klimovich, Lyudmila Valeryevna — Dr. of Sci. in History, associate professor, professor of the Department of History, the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I. N. Ulyanov (Ulyanovsk, Russia).
E-mail: Lusek84@ yandex.ru.
ORCID: 0000-0003-3541-7159

References:

Bazanov, P. N. Zashchita edinstva Rossii: Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo istorika Nikolaya Ul’yanova [Protection of the Unity of Russia: The Life and Work of Historian Nikolai Ulyanov. In Russ]. St. Petersburg, Rostock publ., 2025, 688 p.

Bazanov, P. N. Zashchita edinstva, chesti i tselesoobraznosti russkogo gosudarstva [Protection of Unity, Honor and Expediency of the Russian State. In Russ]. In Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet. 1993. 7 Dec., no. 13, p. 8.

Bazanov, P. N. Sud’ba otechestvennoi kul’tury v tvorchestve N. I. Ul’yanova [The Fate of Russian Culture in the Works of N. I. Ulyanov. In Russ.]. In Rossiiskaya kul’tura glazami molodykh uchenykh. 1995. Iss. 4, part 1, pp. 13–22.

Bazanov, P. N. I. Ul’yanov [In Russ.]. In Veche: al’manakh russkoi filosofii i kul’tury. St. Petersburg, 1999, pp. 170–182.

Bazanov, P. N. Istorik N. I. Ul’yanov: uchenyi, zaklyuchennyi, emigrant [Historian N. I. Ulyanov: Scientist, Prisoner, Emigrant. In Russ.] In The world of the historian: Historiographer. Collection. Iss. 2. Omsk, Omsk State University press, 2006, pp. 58–77.

Bazanov, P. N. Istorik N. I. Ul’yanov [Historian N. I. Ulyanov. In Russ]. In Novyi jurnal. 2012. No. 269, pp. 189–209.

Bazanov, P. N. “Petropol’skii Tatsit” v izgnanii: Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo russkogo istorika Nikolaya Ul’yanova [“Petropolitan Tacitus” in Exile: The Life and Work of the Russian Historian Nikolai Ulyanov. In Russ]. St. Petersburg, Vladimir Dahl publ., 2018, 511 p.

Bazanov, P. N. Istorik N. I. Ul’yanov i teoriya “Moskva — Tretiy Rim” [Historian N. I. Ulyanov and the “Moscow — Third Rome” Theory. In Russ.]. In Russian-Byzantine Bulletin. 2024. No. 4 (19), pp. 169–184.

Klimovich, L. V. Popytka ob’edineniya rossiiskoi emigratsii v 1950-e gody (po materialam soveshchanii emigrantskikh organizatsii v Fyussene, Shtutgarte, Visbadene) [An Attempt to Unite Russian Emigration in the 1950s (Based on Materials from Meetings of Emigrant Organizations in Füssen, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden). In Russ.]. In Scientific Dialogue. 2015. No. 12, pp. 268–279.

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