From: The Historian | Date: January 1, 1994| Author: | COPYRIGHT 1994 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The result of twelve years' labor, Russia's Rulers is a rich, illuminating, wry, yet passionate work. Dominic Lieven has studied the service records (formuliarnye spiski) of the 215 members of the State Council in Imperial Russia under Nicholas II as well as published and unpublished memoirs, to draw a nuanced portrait of Russia's riding elite. The author asks what kind of people ruled the empire and what accounts for their failure and ultimate demise. In the process, he puts to rest once and for all what he calls the traditional "picture of blind and reactionary officialdom." ...