This course is excellent. It took a video or two for me to get used to seeing the professor talk to the camera, but once I got used to that, I really began to enjoy Dr. Kenez's style. He managed to cover a lot of history while still giving enough details to help student understand why events occurred as they did. Also, I like the fact that he told you when he offered an opinion. More than once, he said, "In my opinion" or "I believe" rather than presenting his opinion as a fact. If he had another course, I would take it because he did such a great job. I don't need the certificate but have decided to pay for this course as I think it's only fair to pay for such a valuable product. Thank you, Dr. Kenez.

up to the last lecture it was more or less ok. But the last lecture is outrageous. Almost all of its statements took directly from russian propaganda. If i were more paranoid I would think that it is paid by russia propaganda, but maybe professor watched to much russia today channel. I don't recommend to take this course it, especially last part. It is misleading and full of inaccuracy with facts. If you want more detailed analysis see my post in discussion forum week3

Great class and the professor did an excellent job relaying the information. Honestly, I wish it was a little longer and a little more in depth. Definitely, learned a lot.

Mr Kenez is making a remarkable presentation of Russian history. Very structured and balanced. Impressive knowledge. Thanks for a very interesting course.

Appreciate the wealth of information Prof Kenez has and the attempts to tell the history of Russia, capturing the period of the last hundred years in three weeks. However, I found certain parts difficult to understand and some of the points brought in do not fit the lecture. In "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact", Prof Kenez brought in the Finnish-Russian War where the Russian losses were 6x that of Finnish ones though the link to the actual pact is quite unclear. In "German Invasion of the Soviet Union", the telling is quite unclear and I had to read the transcript a few times to make sense of the military history behind Germany's invasion of Russia. Around 11:06, he says that even if the Nazis captured Moscow, they would have lost the war but doesn't explain why. This will then make you think that the Russians somehow managed to halt the Nazis but around 11:49, he says that Stalin attempted a counterattack which wasn't quite successful. While I appreciate the effort to take us through the twists and turns, I often had to read the transcript a few times to gain greater clarity of the topic.

The course is not that academic. The professor 's English is difficult to understand. The English translations are appalling.

I came looking for a course to give me some academic achievement. This is not this course.

Plus a number of the essays to critique were obvious polemics trying to masquerade as essays of students.

This course I would not recommend to anyone, like myself, who is genuinely interested in the history of that fabulous country: Russia.

The professor may well know his subject but he cannot lecture. His speech is so slow and the sentences complex, therefore making it difficult to follow. I'll just read the text I bought. Coursera, you failed again.

Professor Peter Kenez’s course entitled: Russian History from Lenin to Putin, The University of California, Santa Clara was my 19^th course that I have taken through Coursera. I have been an active participant in Coursera since March 2015.

I will state unequivocally that this Russian history class was definitely in the top five, possibly top three and possibly even the finest course that I have taken.

Professor is a kind gentleman, who imparts his highly organized lectures in a calm tone, a placid pace and with a thorough and complete mastery of the topic. His optics and his illustrations as well as the music that he chooses lend a great deal to his series of lectures and his heart felt invocation at the end of the course, asking us for a level of understanding of Russian middle class aspirations is moving. I highly recommend this particular history class.

My first ever online course, and what a great start. The Professor leading it was very good at explaining the fasicating and recent history of Russia with a personal touch. 5/5

Beautiful course!! I am originally from Russia. The professor knows the material and he is very passionate about

This has been one the best courses I have taken on Coursera. Dr. Kenez is a very good lecturer. The lessons are easy to follow and informative. I had some knowledge of Russian history before I started, I have a great deal more now. I wish there were more courses like this on Coursera.

I cannot praise this class enough.

Karl Shepard

Good course to learn the Russian History. <3

This course gave me a greater understanding of some of the misconceptions of Russia, I came to realize that people are similar the world over. Very interesting course.

The flow of the lectures was challenging to follow and, while the opinions of the professor appeared to be logical and well founded, I struggled with finding documented support for some of the assertions.

This course completely replicates Russian alternative history textbooks and Russia Today broadcasts. Thanks to this course, I understood the level of education that Coursera provides. If I wanted to receive such information, all I had to do was read Orwell's 1984. I wish good luck to all Putinists and Russian propagandists at the next meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club I think that the other courses carry the same useless load as the History of Russia. Therefore, I would prefer to find another educational platform that provides real knowledge.

The professor is a terrible speaker, and his hmm-ing and haa-ing eventually was too much to endure. I decided to just read the transcription, but the transcriptor couldn't make much of what he was saying, either. I'm not speaking of his accent, that was not much of a problem. He just couldn't go through the material in a mostly linear way. I think he should take a look at Professor Shapiro's politics course from Yale. That's how it's done.

I only got six minutes in to the literal first video when the professor began extolling "the greatness of European civilization." That was after completely missing the point of the oft-quoted phrase "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat this." I don't need this kind of energy in my life.

Terrific class. Vastly knowledgeable and charming professor. Hours of interesting lectures that are both cogent and entertaining. Dr. Kenezs' insites are valuable and relevant and a product of his obvious mastery of the subject.

A small disappointment of mine was that there wasn't any supplimenntary reading required or suggested. I only wish that there were links to optional relevent reading for each module. But this is a minor point for overachievers like myself. The lectures provide enough material to get a good handle on the subject and Trranscript s are also available for rereading.

Thanks for a great class!

This course gives a great overview of Russian history: It explains why Russian / Soviet leaders did what they did, but it describes the "immense" suffering of ordinary citizens in the 20th century, too. Thank you, Peter Kenez!

I learned an entirely different impression of Russian history and gained more understanding of the people, I felt the instructor presented the history as a story with great background and experience, A wonderful course.