This concise and accessible introduction to Russia in the nineteenth century, focuses particularly on the rise of radicalism. Derek Offord examines all the major schools of thought and looks in detail at the great thinkers and writers of the day, including Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Bakunin and Tolstoy. Also examined and set in context are the great 'events' in the history of Russian radicalism, from the Decembrist Revolt to the 'going to the people' in 1874.