History of Russia in the 19th Century. Volume I

«History of Russia in the 19th Century» by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Andrei Borisovich Zubov is not a chronological retelling of events, but a reflection on the causes that brought closer the possibility of the demise of «historical Russia».... The catastrophe of the early 20th century, Professor Zubov believes, has much deeper roots than is commonly thought. A careful study of these causes not only helps to better understand the past but also to explain the present.
The first volume covers an extremely important period of the country's transition to modern statehood — the attempts to abolish serfdom, the development of a constitution, and the establishment of a new order in Europe thanks to Alexander I. These largely unsuccessful reforms, however, changed the mindset of the Russian elite and laid the foundations of Russian culture during the golden age and the Great Reforms of the Alexander II era.