Russian history is full of recurrences which are not fortuitous, but the product of underlying causes that have changed little over the centuries. In this book, W.E. Mosse offers a view of the counterpart of the recent perestroika movement from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He examines the causes and the results of the reform movement that worked for change before 1914 - in particular the reforms associated with Tsar Alexander II, Witte and Stolypin. In the process he goes some way towards putting the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s into a historical perspective.