Progress and Present Position of Russia in the East (Classic Reprint)

Explore how Russia expanded into the East and why its moves shaped global power.

This nonfiction study examines Russia’s long arc of growth—from Peter the Great’s frontier posts to the broader push into Asia and the Caucasus. It traces the motives behind eastern commerce, the drive for ports on the Caspian and Baltic, and the complex diplomacy that guided clashes with Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and neighboring states. The work weighs strategic aims, political choices, and the often harsh realities of governing a vast empire on multiple frontiers.

• Tracks Russia’s early steps toward India-related trade and the quest for a sea port on the Caspian and beyond.
• Analyzes frontier policy across Georgia, Persia, and the Caucasus, including contested frontiers and shifting alliances.
• Examines how internal politics, diplomacy, and military campaigns shaped Russia’s outward reach.
• Illuminates the interplay between imperial ambition and regional resistance, with historical context for today’s geopolitics.