Nefedov S.A. Review: The History of Russian Empire: factor analysis. Yerevan: Fortis Press, 2024. 610 p.

The review examines the monograph by the modern historian Sergei A. Nefedov, in which he sets an ambitious goal to "trace the main points of the history of the Russian Empire step by step in order to find an explanation of the events that took place within the framework of modern sociological theories." The researcher conscientiously took advantage of the achievements of the thinkers of his predecessors, regardless of "nationality". Being an expert on Russian history, he identified the factors that determined the history of the Russian Empire and which had not been used by historians in combination until now, namely demographic, technological and geographical. This three-factor model was verified by specific historical material in accordance with chronology. In the context of demographic and structural cycles, such phenomena as turning into serfs, colonization of the outskirts, absolutism and other functionally necessary conditions are perceived as natural. The Russian intelligentsia appeared as a Russian evolutionary and revolutionary phenomenon. The cross-cutting idea of the book is the idea of the people as a historical actor. The concept of the people is identified with the peasantry. The author associates himself with the concept of the peasant nature of the revolutionary events of the early 20th century. However, the peasantry as an independent driving force is not sufficiently analyzed. Imperial Russia has already been thoroughly studied in historiography at the level of special topics, and an understanding of how it really was is easily formed. It is the lot of desperate historians to "stitch together" a complete picture of the past from the entire volume of research material, not a patchwork or tendentious one. S.A. Nefedov did it convincingly. Although the book does not contain arguments about the civilizational view of the history of Russia, but explaining the historical process by objective laws, it makes a significant contextual contribution to its civilizational understanding. The past is shown as a historical experience, therefore, research must necessarily be taken into account when developing a theory about Russia as a state-civilization. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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