Vasily Alekseyevich Maklakov, (1869 - 1957) was a Russian trial lawyer and liberal parliamentary orator, one of the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party and Russian Freemasonry, notable for his advocacy of a constitutional Russian state. His brother Nikolay Maklakov served as Russia's Interior Minister in 1912-15.

PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied World War II convoy in the Arctic Ocean. In July 1942, the Arctic convoys suffered a significant defeat when Convoy PQ 17 lost 24 of its 35 merchant ships during a series of heavy enemy daylight attacks which lasted a week.

Published by the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, this book examines the causes and character of the war and the process in which a local conflict is escalated into an international conflict. Of particular interest to the author is the role and activities of the United Nations.

The author, who was one of the leading researchers of Russian cinematography, examines the depiction of Jews in Russian Film from 1919-1999.

The author examines turbulent days of 1917 and the rise of the Bolsheviks and the power-cult and dictatorship of Lenin and Stalin.