Table of Contents

Introduction. The Storyteller and His Story
1: Transcaucasia. Boyhood and Family on an Imperial Frontier, 1849-1865
2: Imperial Identity: Coming of Age in New Russia, 1865-1881
3: Kiev: Dreaming in the Victorian 1880s
4: A City of Dreams: St. Petersburg, the Empire of the Tsars, and Imperial Horizons in the Gilded Age (1888-1903)
5: From Exile: Memories of Revolutionary Russia, 1904-1912
Conclusion. From the Alexander Nevsky Lavra,1915
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Frank W. Wcislo is a historian of modern Russia, Eurasia, and Europe. He is Dean of The Commons and Associate Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.

Reviews

Sergei Witte was a facinating man, and this book, based on his memoirs and voluminous reminiscences, will appeal to people here and around the world.
*Steve Forbes, Forbes Magazine*

A stimulating new biography.
*Stephen Lovell, Times Literary SupplementTony Barber, Financial Times*

In an innovative and informative study of both Witte and his milieu, Francis W. Wcislo...uncovers the man and his times through an excavation of Witte's copious memoirs and the writings of his contemporaries...a textured and elegant view of a man who was so central to Russia
*Jennifer Siegel, Wall Street Journal*

a commendable interpretive treatment of a notoriously complex and controversial figure ... This biography is a must for those interested not only in the late Romanov period, but in the long nineteenth century in general.
*Anton Fedyashin, European History Quarterly*