Perspectives on the strategies of imperial rule pursued by rulers, officials, scholars, and subjects of the Russian empire. This book explores the connections between Russia's expansion over vast territories occupied by people of many ethnicities, religions, and political experiences and the evolution of imperial administration and vision.

ContentsList of IllustrationsPreface and AcknowledgmentsComing into the Territory: Uncertainty and Empire Jane Burbank and Mark von HagenPart I: Space 1. Imperial Space: Territorial Thought and Practice in the Eighteenth Century Willard Sunderland2. The "Great Circle" of Interior Russia: Representations of the Imperial Center in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Leonid Gorizontov3. How Bashkiria Became Part of European Russia, 1762-1881 Charles Steinwedel4. Mapping the Empire's Economic Regions from the Nineteenth to the Early Twentieth Century Nailya Tagirova5. State and Evolution: Ethnographic Knowledge, Economic Expediency, and the Making of the USSR, 1917-1924 Francine HirschPart II: People6. Changing Conceptions of Difference, Assimilation, and Faith in the Volga-Kama Region, 1740-1870 Paul Werth7. Thinking Like an Empire: Estate, Law and Rights in the Early Twentieth Century Jane Burbank 8. From Region to Nation: The Don Cossacks 1870-1920 Shane O'Rourke9. Bandits and the State: Designing a "Traditional" Culture of Violence in the Russian Caucasus Vladimir Bobrovnikov 10. Representing "Primitive Communists": Ethnographic and Political Authority in Early Soviet Siberia Nikolai Ssorin-ChaikovPart III: Institutions11. From the Zloty to the Ruble: The Kingdom of Poland in the Monetary Politics of the Russian Empire Ekaterina Pravilova12. The Muslim Question in Late Imperial Russia Elena Campbell13. The Zemstvo Reform, the Cossacks, and Administrative Policy on the Don, 1864-1882 Aleksei Volvenko 14. Peoples, Regions, and Electoral Politics: The State Dumas and the Constitution of New National Elites Rustem Tsiunchuk15. The Provisional Government and Finland: Russian Democracy and Finnish Nationalism in Search of Peaceful Coexistence Irina Novikova Part IV. Designs16. Siberia and the Russian Far East in the Imperial Geography of Power Anatolyi Remnev17. Imperial Political Culture and Modernization in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century Sviatoslav Kaspe18. Federalisms and Pan-movements: Re-imagining Empire Mark von HagenList of Contributors Index

Eighteen articles, mainly by US, Russian, and British scholars, cover various aspects of the Russian Empire from its foundation under Peter the Great to the rule of Stalin. The Russian participants, mostly historians and political scientists, come from the two Russian capitals and various other cities. The major focus is the geographies of rule in Russia. . . . The materials are derived in large part from Russian archives, especially those in Moscow. Several good maps aid readers' comprehension. . . . Recommended.