The Cambridge History of Russia, Volume 2: Imperial Russia, 1689-1917

The Cambridge History of Russia #2

by Dominic Lieven (Editor)

The second volume of The Cambridge History of Russia covers the imperial period (1689 1917). It encompasses political, economic, social, cultural, diplomatic, and military history. All the major Russian social groups have separate chapters and the volume also includes surveys on the non-Russian peoples and the government's policies towards them. It addresses themes such as women, law, the Orthodox Church, the police and the revolutionary movement. The volume's seven chapters on diplomatic and military history, and on Russia's evolution as a great power, make it the most detailed study of these issues available in English. The contributors come from the USA, UK, Russia and Germany: most are internationally recognised as leading scholars in their fields, and some emerging younger academics engaged in cutting-edge research have also been included. No other single volume in any language offers so comprehensive, expert and up-to-date an analysis of Russian history in this period.

Genres: History, Russia, Russian History, Nonfiction, 19th Century, 18th Century

794 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 1

About the author

Dominic Lieven is Professor of Russian studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Fellow of the British Academy and of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Rob Western · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid historical overview of imperial Russia.

As Lieven suggests, you probably won’t read it cover to cover, but will instead read the chapters that interest you/will help your research.

But as an introduction it is as good as you will find.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm coming at Volume 1 and 2 of this set from a 'Big History' perspective - that is, I'm interested in how the geographical unit of modern day Russia evolved economically, culturally, and politically over time, prior to the Soviet era. And yet at the same time I'm also interested in the minutiae of these phenomena.

And that's what the Cambridge Histories do so well - they're both extensive AND comprehensive. So you get a good look at the big picture, but also the finer details of those larger elements. The end result is that while reading almost any instance of a Cambridge history you come away with a much greater understanding of the subject than you had going in.

While reading this specific edition I can't pick out much that differs from the other Cambridge histories I've read, except for the subject matter itself. So generally, if you want a great overview of the period / geographical area, and can get your hands on a copy it will definitely be worth your time.