The Russian Empire and the World, 1700-1917

John LeDonne’s book The Russian Empire and the World, 1700-1917 takes its readers through the implication of Russia’s geography and how it played part in the formation of its boundaries. The author painstakingly shows the development of Russia over two centuries. LeDonne shows every aspect of Russian expansionism and its political motives behind each expansion. At times the author tells how Russia’s geography hinders the development of the country. This book also …

…breaks it up very unevenly sometimes covering a whole century in one chapter. Perhaps this book could have accomplished its thesis better in a multiple volume book instead of trying to cram all of the information into the limitations of one book. Also if it were broken up it would probably be a little easier to read. With the technical terminology that the author uses a multi-volume work would probably satisfy the readers even more.