Pyotr Alekseevich Kropotkin (1842-1921) is an amazing, but in some ways very typical figure in Russian history: a prince from an old family who became a revolutionary, a scholar and encyclopedist immersed in politics, an anarchist who sharply criticized violence and the ‘Red Terror’. He became famous as a geographer and explorer of the North, a historian and philosopher, a literary critic and...

In this volume, the scholar Andrei Kokoshin examines the role and place of technocrats as a socio-cultural phenomenon in contemporary societies. He examines the development of technocrats in both Russia and other countries.

The book covers the period of the 1920s and the 1930s and highlights the role played by the security organs of the VChK-OGPU to secure the security and ability of the Soviet Armed Forces to protect the national interests. The author seeks to reverse the negative image/view on the role of the agencies to strengthen the armed forces.

The *Military Dictionary* by Sergei Alekseevich Tuchkov (1767–1839)—a Russian military commander, statesman, and man of letters—represents the first attempt at a military encyclopedia in Russia. It is not only a historical artifact but also an important source for the study of Russian military history in the early 19th century.

‘Count T. heads towards a mysterious area called ‘Optina Pustyn’. Bypassing all sorts of obstacles, he is steadily approaching the goal, however, seeing neither the meaning nor the reasons for his dangerous journey. However, soon he will have to doubt not only the illusory nature his mission, but also in his own reality, and at the same time in the reality of the entire surrounding world. Count...

The author examines the German campaign in the Caucasus and in particular the battle on the Kalmyk steppe.