Emperor Alexander II. His Life and Reign (set of 2 books)

Alexander II was the Russian emperor from 1855, known in history as the Tsar-Reformer, under whose leadership a whole range of reforms was prepared and implemented: the abolition of serfdom, judicial, zemstvo, military, and many other reforms that opened the way for changes in the state and social structure of the country. During the reign of Alexander II, the annexation of the Caucasus (1864), Kazakhstan (1865), and most of Central Asia (1865-1881) was completed. Alexander II's life was marked by a number of assassination attempts (1866, 1867, 1879, 1880), and he was killed by the Narodnaya Volya. The author of this fundamental work saw his task as "to gather together numerous testimonies about individual moments and episodes of the life and activities of Tsar Alexander Nikolaevich and, supplementing them with his own research, to compile an accurate and as complete as possible pragmatic summary of the events of his reign and his personal participation or influence on them in the field of both domestic and foreign policy." The foundation of his work was based on materials he studied in the State and Main St. Petersburg Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the archives of the State Council, the former III Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, and in the Military-Scientific Archive of the General Staff. In addition, the author had access to some archives of foreign states and private archives. This book is intended for students of historical, political, cultural, and management specialties, as well as for anyone interested in the history of Russia.