History is full of surprises. But rarely has there been a turnaround as unexpected, and momentous, as what occurred to a formative Russia during the medieval period. Attacked and invaded from all sides, it hardly looked as if the small Slavic principalities would survive. But they did. And they were eventually absorbed in Kiev Rus' and then Muscovy, which gradually expanded and laid the foundation for a huge empire. That is the extraordinary period presented by this historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia, describing both the times of danger and defeat and those of expansion and revitalization. The book covers the period from the founding oft he Kievan state to the accession of Peter the Great's reign in 1682. This long period, and its background are traced in the chronology.

It is further examined, and broken into more compact segments, in the introduction. Then the dictionary provides the essential details. There are entries on significant persons, tsars, princes and khans, pretenders and rebels, patriarchs and priests, Russian, Mongol and other, who determined the outcome. Other entries deal with important political institutions, economic practices, internal. This helps clarify.