SUMMARY:

Ivan Burmistrov has prepared and annotated extracts for publication from journals kept by the Russian navy officer Evgeny Ivanovich Alekseev (1843–1917). After several decades of active sea service, Vice Admiral Alekseev was appointed viceroy of the Russian Far East, and in this capacity he bears his share of responsibility for provoking the infamous Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The publication covers the period 1881–1898, when Alekseev commanded ships and whole squadrons, primarily in the Pacific, and traveled across the United States. Burmistrov argues that, despite the laconic and businesslike character of the journals, they register the process of “nationalizing” the imperial subject and the country, as well as the role of the navy in this process.