The first reader in Russian history in almost two decades, this collection includes primary and secondary material never before published in English. Reflecting the latest scholarship on the subject, Reinterpreting Russian History covers a thousand years in four periods: Kievan Rus', the Post-Kievan Experience, the Muscovite Centralized State, and the Russian Empire. Supplemented by over 70 illustrations, selections are introduced by placing them in the context of the work's major themes: state structure, the economy, society, and culture and everyday life. From the multi-ethnic peopling of early Russia to the elite society of the nineteenth century, original sources illuminate such topics as state-building, government and politics, the peasantry and the countryside, clergy and religious communities, and women and gender.