Public-domain ebook

The Rise of the Russian Empire

Name: The Rise of the Russian Empire
Author: Saki

by Saki

Read now Add to library

Language: en1,418 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

Russia -- History

In: Russian Literature·History - Other

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #45099.

About this book

The work is a scholarly survey of Russian history, written at the turn of the twentieth century. It begins with a Spectator notice that frames the book as a concise English synthesis of the Russian empire’s rise, followed by a preface in which the author, H. H. Munro, explains his aim to fill the gap left by earlier, fragmentary translations. The opening chapter sets the scene with a geographic overview of the vast Eurasian plain, describing the steppe, black‑soil wheat belt, forest zones and the rivers that would shape political development. Munro then turns to the ethnology of the early Slavs, detailing their tribal settlements, village institutions and mythic beliefs, while contrasting their static village life with the more urbanised societies of their western neighbours. This introductory material establishes the book’s scope, from the “dawn of Russian history” through the medieval period, grounded in a detailed bibliography of sources consulted.

Munro’s voice is that of a meticulous Victorian scholar, employing a formal, descriptive prose style that interweaves geography, anthropology and early‑modern historiography. The language reflects the academic conventions of the 1890s, with extensive footnote‑style citations and a focus on precise transliteration of Russian names. Readers who enjoy dense, source‑driven narratives of nation‑building, particularly those interested in the pre‑Petrine era, the interplay of environment and culture, or the historiographical attitudes of late‑Victorian Britain, will find this volume rewarding.

The opening · free to read

With the exception of a translation of Rambaud’s somewhat disjointed work, there is no detailed history of Russia in the English language at all approaching modern standards. The reigns of Petr the Great and of some of his successors down to the present day--a period covering only 200 years--have been minutely dealt with, but the earlier history of a nation with whom we are coming ever closer into contact is to the English reader almost a blank. Whether the work now submitted will adequately fill the gap remains to be seen; such is its object.

The rule observed with regard to the rendering of names of places and persons has been to follow the spelling of the country to which they belong as closely as possible. The spelling of Russian words employed, and curiously distorted, by English and other historians, has been brought back to its native forms. There is no satisfactory reason, for instance, why the two final letters of boyarin should be dropped, or why they should reappear tacked on to the equally Russian word Kreml. Moskva is scarcely recognisable in its Anglicised form, and Kiev can only be rendered Kieff on a system which would radically disturb the spelling of most English towns.

A list of works consulted is appended, arranged somewhat in the order in which they have been found useful, precedence being given to those which have been most largely drawn upon.