Analyzes the evolution of the Russian state from the 9th century to the 1880s. It describes the "patrimonial" state, and analyzes the failure of the peasantry, nobility, middle-class and clergy to stand up to the increasing absolutism of the tsar.
Why did Stalin succeed Lenin?' Richard Popes, from Three Whys of the Russian Revolution. Arguably the most important event of the twentieth century, the Russian Revolution changed for ever the course of modern history.