An examination of the imperial period in Russia, encompassing political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history. It addresses issues such as major Russian social groups, women, the Orthodox Church and the police. No other single volume in any language offers such a comprehensive analysis of Russian history in this period.

Introduction Dominic Lieven; Part I. Empire: 1. Russia as empire and periphery Dominic Lieven; 2. Managing Empire: Tsarist nationalities policy Theodore Weeks; 3. Geographies of imperial identity Mark Bassin; Part II. Culture, Ideas, Identities: 4. Russian culture in the eighteenth century Lindsey Hughes; 5. Russian culture: 1801-1917 Rosamund Bartlett; 6. Russian political thought: 1700-1917 Gary M. Hamburg; 7. Russia and the legacy of 1812 Alexander M. Martin; Part III. Non-Russian Nationalities: 8. Ukrainians and Poles Timothy Snyder; 9. Jews Benjamin Nathans; 10. Islam in the Russian Empire Vladimir Bobrovnikov; Part IV. Russian Society, Law and Economy: 11. The elites Dominic Lieven; 12. The groups between: Raznochintsy, intelligentsia, professionals Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter; 13. Nizhnii Novgorod in the nineteenth century: portrait of a city Catherine Evtuhov; 14. Russian orthodoxy: church, people and politics in Imperial Russia Gregory L. Freeze; 15. Women, the family and public life Barbara Alpern Engel; 16. Gender and the legal order in Imperial Russia Michelle Lamarche Marrese; 17. Law, the judicial system and the legal profession Jorg Baberowski; 18. Peasants and agriculture David Moon; 19. The Russian economy and Banking System Boris Ananich; Part V. Government: 20. Central government in the Russian Empire Zhand P. Shakibi; 21. Provincial and local government Janet Hartley; 22. State Finances Peter Waldron; Part VI. Foreign Policy and the Armed Forces: 23. Peter the Great and the Northern War Paul Bushkovitch; 24. Russian foreign policy, 1725-1815 Hugh Ragsdale; 25. The Imperial Army William C. Fuller Jr; 26. Russian foreign policy, 1815-1917 David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye; 27. The Russian navy at the turn of the twentieth century: imperialism, technology and class war Nikolai Afonin; Part VII. Reform, War and Revolution: 28. The reign of Alexander II: a watershed? Larisa Zakharova; 29. Russian workers and revolution Reginald Zelnik; 30. Police and revolution Jonathan Daly; 31. War and revolution, 1914-17 Eric Lohr.