Published in Russian, see Russian pages of this website.

SUMMARY:

Alexei Miller, as the head of the editorial board of the series, outlines the background of the production of the series and describes the vicissitudes encountered in writing these books from the initial plan to its realization. In particular, he recounts that the initial design of the series included volumes on the Volgo-Kama region and the Grand Duchy of Finland, while the history of the Ostsee region and South Caucasus were excluded due to the lack of sufficient number of scholars studying this region. Responding to criticism by reviewers, Miller reiterates that the volume Western Borderlands of the Russian Empire was not exclusively focused on the historical conflict of the Russian Empire with the Poles, but aspired to zoom in on the territory where the formation of Byelorussian, Jewish, and Ukrainian national identities was taking place. Miller defends the imbalance of the volume by its specific task to reconstruct the history of Russian imperial policy toward the western borderlands.