"The Reformer illuminates the life and times of Vasily Maklakov, one of the most remarkable lives during the most turbulent times in Russia's history. Maklakov's attempts to avoid revolution by bringing about revolutionary reform failed, but his course and his arguments should not be forgotten. The Reformer is an essential book for anyone interested in Russian history, but its story is still all too relevant today, when freedom and the rule of law are under assault around the globe." --Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped "Through extensive research, crystal-clear writing, and a keen and comprehensive understanding of his subject matter, Stephen F. Williams makes a truly important contribution to the study of the last years of tsarism and the efforts of one individual to try to make a difference. Williams demonstrates a real mastery of the literature and original source material . and brings it altogether in a most readable and informative way." --David J.

Kramer, Senior Fellow, Florida International University and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor "Williams's study is impressive, informative, gripping. In the considerable overlap between the skills of a good lawyer and a good historian, Williams shines." --Lars Lih, author of Lenin (2011) and Lenin Rediscovered (2008) "A liberal rule of law is under attack worldwide, from Manila to Moscow. Judge Williams has written a lucid, brilliant account of a modern turning point--the failure of Russia to take the liberal direction it could have taken in 1917. Williams has entire command of the historical sources for his tale, told in graceful prose. We are not that far gone in losing the liberal vision of law. But to not remember the history is to risk repeating it." --Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History and English at theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago "This is an unusual and in so many ways a brilliant book.

It aims to explain the failure of the rule of law in the decades before the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917, through the biography of a key liberal figure of that era, Vasily Maklakov. There is no other work like this one, for there is no other written by a leading jurist who also happens to publish seriously as a historian of Russia." --Daniel T. Orlovsky, Professor and George Bouhe Research Fellow in Russian Studies, Southern Methodist University.