mystery. In The Russian Chronicles the people themselves speak out and tell the story of this troubled land from its beginning to the 1917 Revolution, which marked the beginning of the Soviet state. Their voices are recorded in chronicles etched on parchment in distant monasteries, and in the hidden wisdom of folk song; in private letters from refugees and immigrants as well as official reports from far-flung governors seeking to bring Russian ways to Eastern provinces; and in letters and notes from writers who brought their culture from the past into the 19th and 20th centuries.

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