This significant history of late Tsarist Russia was first published in 1877; reissued here is the edition of 1912, the last to be revised and updated by its author, Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1841–1919). Having been orphaned at an early age, but with private means, Wallace spent most of his twenties studying law, philosophy and ethics at various European universities. He was invited to visit Russia in order to study the language and customs of the Ossetians, a nomadic tribe of south Russia, but stayed for six years, studying the Russians themselves and their vast country: the first edition of this influential and still relevant work was the result. Wallace became a foreign correspondent for The Times, and was associated with the newspaper for the rest of his working life, though he also advised the British government, and occasionally royalty, on foreign and diplomatic issues.