Recommend a book on Russian History

A ouple of books (and reviews) are mentioned at H-Russia.

I'm sorry, I can't recommend any books on the Cold War era.

A few books about Russia I have enjoyed are:

"Russka" by Edward Rutherford.
"Byzantium and the Rise of Russia" by John Meyendorff.
"Execution by Hunger" by Miron Dolot.
"Icebreaker" by Viktor Suvorov.
"Hunted through Central Asia" by Paul Nazaroff.
"Revolution from Abroad" by Jan T. Gross.