This is a collection of thirteen major essays (four never previously published in English, and others not readily available) by one of the most distinguished Western historians of eighteenth-century Russia. Prefaced by an extensive Introduction they combine to make a closely integrated whole which challenges the conventional view of imperial Russia as a semi-barbaric outsider on the edge of continental Europe. In particular it explores the way Russia absorbed, and participated in, the ideas of the Enlightenment. Themes treated include: Autocracy and Sovereignty; civil rights; serfdom; penal policy; freemasonry; educational reform; Catherine the Great as an enlightened absolutist; and various aspects of the world of ideas during her reign. This is a substantial contribution not just to the history of Russia, but to early modern Europe generally.
