A history of Russia

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For a student of Russian history to write a complete history of Russia is, in a sense, to give an account of his entire intellectual and academic life. And his indebtedness to others is, of course, enormous. I know at least where to begin the listing of my debts: my father, Valentin A. Riasanovsky, made a huge contribution to this History of Russia both by his participation in the writing of the book and, still more important, by teaching me Russian history. Next I must mention my teachers of Russian history at Harvard and Oxford, notably the late Professor Michael Karpovich, the late Warden B. H. Sumner, and Professor Sir Isaiah Berlin. A number of colleagues read sections of the manuscript and made very helpful comments. To name only those who read large parts of the work, I thank Professors Gregory Grossman, Richard Herr, and Martin Malia of the University of California at Berkeley, my former teacher Professor Dimitri Obolensky of Oxford University, Professor Richard Pipes of Harvard University, and Professor Charles Jelavich of Indiana University.

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