A survey of the social and political history of the Russian Empire from the reign of Alexander I to the abdication of Nicholas II. The author draws on Russian documentary material and the work of Soviet and foreign scholars.

From the reign of Alexander I to the abdication of Nicholas II, this wide-ranging survey of Russian history follows the development of institutions, classes, political movements, and individuals and draws on a large body of documentary material and contemporary scholarship, making an important contribution to pre-revolutionary Russian studies.

`The scholarship infusing this book is formidable.' Sunday Times