Description: Greeted with critical acclaim in the original Russian, this major survey of Russia as a multi-ethnic empire spans the imperial years from the sixteenth century to 1917, with a serious consideration of the Soviet phase. It asks how Russians incorporated new territories, how they were resisted, what the character of a multi-ethnic empire was and how, finally, these issues related to nationalism.
Review Quotes: "an extremely timely book, for it is the first history of Russia which does the imperial theme full justice" Geoffrey Hosking, The Slavonic Review "the first attempt in any language to centre the whole of Russian history from the 16th century to the present day on the relations between the empire's ethnic groups...timely as well as innovative"David Saunders, English Historical Review