In this course, we will examine 100 years of Russian history through the personalities of its rulers: Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Each week, we will explore one leader’s background, rise to power, and legacy. We will consider how each leader’s personality and peculiarities shaped Russian history, how each leader’s rule ended, and why all of these leaders were men.