In the Russia of the tsars, people who criticized or questioned the autocratic prerogatives of the sovereign were brutally suppressed and sometimes actively persecuted. So imbedded was this official hostility to anyone hoping to change or even influence government policy, that even the most high-minded reformers came to understand that the only way they could succeed was to overthrow the regime. The author describes the activities of the most important dissidents and agitators from the reign of Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution in 1917. Many of these fascinating individuals were serious activists endeavoring to improve society; others were opportunistic scoundrels and adventurers. The author explores the causes that provoked them and the consequences they faced, and explains how time and time again the tsars were goaded into mistakes and over-reaction.

A pioneering exploration of four cities where East meets West and past becomes future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai.

Book 3 of The Blood Series Dr. Sofia Pierce has been under house arrest with sixteen badass warriors from The Alliance, for what seemed like a lifetime. At least that’s how it felt. It was like having sixteen dragons perched on the perimeter of the family home to protect her. She couldn't even go pee without an escort! Having the toughest, meanest warriors The Alliance had on staff dogging her every move is difficult. But Sofia is determined to make them laugh and have fun with her. It’s her life’s mission to wipe the scowls from their handsome as sin faces and make them smile. Her antics with two lethal teams only accomplish one thing; these men adore the shit out of her. And they will do anything for Sofia. Sofia’s bond to Ambrose, the man she lovingly calls Vader, continues to grow. The days when she was afraid to be alone with him in a room are long gone. She considers the tough Ambrose Kane her friend and her protector. In the process to protect Sofia, five men deceive her, tearing her heart in two. The deceit of the five men, who she trusted with her every fiber, sent her fleeing into her surrogate father's protection. She severed all contact along with her blood, forcing them all feel the wrath of her pain. The pain these five men will suffer for what they did to her, Sofia will see to it. But after her tantrum lasts longer than anyone expected, she decides she can't live without the men in question. She loves them all too much and she needs them in her life. But for one of them, she will make work harder for her forgiveness. And she will bring this tough warrior to his knees for her forgiveness

Jaycen Alan Ford was an ordinary rich teenager living an ordinary rich teenager's life... until he wrecked his brand new Corvette. Not only did he total his car, but he escaped the vehicle as it was in mid-air and watched the rest of the devastating crash take place in slow motion. As it turned out, Jaycen was fast. Really fast. And he wasn't the only one. Soon afterwards, his parents, along with many other people, were killed in a mass murder by another speedster. On a quest to take down his parents' killer, Jaycen learns of an entire secret society of people with special abilities, and through thick and thin, has to work with them and the U.S. government to bring down a man who moves twice as fast as he does, and somehow knows twice as much about his life - past, present, and even future - than he should.

All the information since the earliest Billboard charts were originally compiled in 1942 is gathered into this one essential reference on country music that has been updated and expanded to capture today's top recording artists and their biggest songs. Original.

Historians habitually write about empires that expand, wage wars, and collapse, as if empires were self-evident and self-conscious entities with a distinct and clear sense of purpose. The stories of empires are told in the language of modern nation-centred social sciences: multi-cultural and heterogeneous empires of the past appear either as huge “nations” with a common language, culture, and territory, or as amalgamations of would-be nations striving to gain independence. Empire Speaks Out reconstructs the historical encounter of the Russian Empire of the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries with the complex challenge of modernity. It does so by taking the self-awareness of empire seriously, and by looking into how bureaucrats, ideologues, politicians, scholars, and modern professionals described the ethnic, cultural, and social diversity of the empire. “Empire” then reveals itself not through deliberate and well-conceived actions of some mysterious political body, but as a series of “imperial situations” that different people encounter and perceive in common categories. The rationalization of previously intuitive social practices as imperial languages is the central theme of the collection. This book is published with support from Volkswagen Foundation, within the collective research project “Languages of Self Description and Representation in the Russian Empire”

Just Assassins examines terrorism as it's manifested in Russian culture past and present, with essays devoted to Russian literature, film, and theater; historical narrative; and even amateur memoir, songs, and poetry posted on the Internet. Along with editor Anthony Anemone's introduction, these essays chart the evolution of modern political terrorism in Russia, from the Decembrist uprising to the horrific school siege in Beslan in 2004, showing how Russia's cultural engagement with its legacy of terrorism speaks to the wider world.