Michael Khodarkovsky is Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago. He is the author of Where Two Worlds Met: The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600-1771 and Bitter Choices: Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus and coeditor of Of Religion and Empire: Missions, Conversion, and Tolerance in Tsarist Russia, all from Cornell. He is also the author of Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800.
"This collection of essays explores the tremendous religious diversity of tsarist Russia and adds long-overdue perspectives to our understanding of Russia as a multiethnic, multiconfessional entity. It is a highly significant book that is sure to become a classic for students of Eurasian, colonial, and religious history... The authors are to be praised for their indispensable contribution to our understanding of a neglected but significant area of the Eurasian past."-Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Ohio State University. The Russian Review, Vol. 60, No. 4 "Whether one is interested in examining the roots of religious and ethnic diversity in contemporary Russia, or in studying the missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Church, or in probing encounters between Christian and non-Christian traditions, Of Religion and Empire should be placed at the top of the reading list."-Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Baylor University. Journal of Church and State, Vol. 43, No. 3, Summer 2001 "Although many monographs have appeared in the last twenty years on individual aspects of religion in the Russian empire, a truly synthetic treatment of the varieties of religious experience and imperial attitudes toward them has been lacking. Of Religion and Empire goes a long way toward filling this gap... The range of subjects covered and the discussions of the overarching theoretical issues make the book a real contribution for anyone who has thought about Russia as an empire."-Nadieszda Kizenko, State University of New York-Albany. Slavic Review, Vol. 61, No. 1, Spring 2002 "The twelve essays in this valuable collection offer case studies of official policy and its impact on local communities. The volume also constitutes an exercise in comparative religion, for it focuses not only on policy but also on the way the different religious communities adapted to the conditions imposed by imperial rule...the information and insight the essays provide illustrate the scope and importance of a subject that deserves further research. The volume... is elegantly designed, with some nice illustrations."-Laura Engelstein, Princeton University, Journal of Religious History, 27:1, February 2003 "This volume will remain for quite some time one of the standard works on the interface between national and religious identities, empire building and missions, and conversion and religious tolerance. This holds true both for persons interested particularly in imperial Russia and for those who seek a broader comparative context for the study of these topics in other geographical areas of the world."-Vera Shevzov, Smith College, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "Ranging across a vast period of time and space, Of Religion and Empire demonstrates the extraordinary complexity of the problems that faced ecclesiastical and secular authorities in Russia. This book represents a serious contribution to this new inquiry."-Gregory L. Freeze, Brandeis University "A fascinating, original, and wide-ranging investigation of religious conversion in its political and imperial dimensions."-Catherine Evtuhov, Georgetown University
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