Russian Conservatism and Its Critics A Study in Political Culture Richard Pipes

Russian Conservatism and Its Critics provides the first history of Russia's immemorial commitment to the theory and practice of autocracy, the most formative and powerful idea in Russia's political history. Richard Pipes considers why Russian thinkers, statesman, and publicists have historically always argued that Russia could prosper only under an autocratic regime. Beginning with an insightful study of the origins of Russian statehood in the Middle Ages, when the state grew out of the princely domain but was not distinguished from it, Russian Conservatism and Its Critics includes a masterful survey of Russia's major conservative thinkers and demonstrates how conservatism is the dominant intellectual legacy of Russia. Pipes examines the geographical, historical, political, military and social realities of the Russian empire - fundamentally unchanged by the Revolution of 1917 - that have traditionally convinced its rulers and opinion leaders that decentralising political authority would inevitably result in the country's disintegration. Pipes has written a brilliant thesis and analysis of a hitherto overlooked aspect of the Russian intellectual tradition that continues to have significance to this day.

Richard Pipes is Baird Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University. He is the author of 22 books, including The Degaev Affair and The Unknown Lenin, both published by Yale University Press.

'...a disturbing lesson in the ineradicable nature of tyranny.' - Donald Rayfield, Literary Review

'...Pipes has done us a service...' - Philip Longworth, The Spectator

'[Pipes's] insightful study reminds us that Russian intellectual history is by no means merely a playground for left-wingers.' - John Keep, Times Literary Supplement

'Pipes operates within a liberal interpretive framework [which] is in fact one of his strengths. It means that he clearly has something to say, and it gives him a way of integrating a large body of material.' - Philip Boobbyer, Reviews in History

'Professor Richard Pipes [is] the world-famous authority on Russian history, [and this is] his latest masterpiece... This short book is not only flawlessly written, but it is full of penetrating insights and brilliant analysis. It will be a standard work for future generations.' - Daniel Salbstein, East-West Review