This ambitious history, the latest by a leading British University scholar, tackles with clarity the scope and breadth of the Russian empire from its Kievan beginnings through Imperial expansion, revolution and the Soviet period all the way to the 21st century. Hosking takes as his focus the Russian character, paying special attention to non-Russian ethnic groups scattered across Eurasia. This book follows and expands on Hosking's Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917.  (RUS208, $21.50)