This informative book offers a history of the place of Armenians within the tsarist empire in the long 19th century. It adds to a burgeoning scholarly literature on Russia as a multiethnic empire, drawing on careful archival research to sharpen the understanding of the ways in which the vast empire managed its remarkable diversity. (Choice) A must-read for anyone interested in the history of the Armenians or the Caucasus, of Russian domestic and nationalities policy, and of Russian foreign policy. Of interest to academic and general readers alike. (The Russian Review) Stephen Badalyan Riegg's case study of the Armenians within the Russian empire clearly demonstrates the fluidity and complexity of imperial policies and relationships. In so doing, this work provides a powerful illustration of the new imperial history's desire to understand empire as a myriad of tensions and inconsistencies, and challenges the reader to think comparatively about the relationships in a multi-ethnic empire. (The Middle Ground Journal) Armed with a rich arsenal of primary and secondary sources, Riegg methodically explains the evolution of this relationship from 1801 to 1914, which is not an easy feat. This careful study will make readers wonder how the Russo-Armenian relationship evolved from then on.

(Slavic Review) Russia's Entangled Embrace will remain one of the foremost monographs on the synchro-nous development of Armenian nation-building and Russian empire-building in the South Caucasus, as well as a very good case study of the maintenance of rule in an empire's shattering multiethnic borderland on the eve of the First World War. (Comparativ) Stephen Riegg's work is a strong, pioneering contribution to the study of the Armenian community in imperial Russia. (Slavonic and East European Review) Russia's Entangled Embrace provides an elegantly narrated overview of the Romanov state's encounters with the Armenians that is both accessible and thought-provoking. The use of a wide variety of official state documents and correspondence allows the author to uncover the significant supporting role Armenians played in the tsarist effort to expand and consolidate the empire. (Études arméniennes contemporaines) With its focus on changing Russian policies and perceptions, colonialism and the integration of 'natives' in the South Caucasus, Russia's Entangled Embrace offers not only a detailed empirical analysis but, given Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also a thought-provoking discussion that raises uncomfortable questions about the role of ethnic and religious 'Others' in the project of empire-building. (H-Soz-Kult).