This book examines key themes in the history of late imperial Russia. It looks at the political structures of the empire, the forces of opposition to the regime, and the impact of reform in the 1860s. Even though concessions were wrung from the regime in the Revolution of 1905, Tsarism proved powerful enough to reassert its authority and render the new parliament ineffective. Economic and social change were much more difficult for the state to manage. This book deals with the attempts at rural reform and analyzes why they failed to bring fundamental change to the Russian countryside.