Focusing on Russia's history from the time of the Tsars to the present (though a few articles go back earlier), this encyclopedia features 1,500 articles on people, politics, customs, languages, economies, wars, religions, art and literature, science, and geography of Russia and the former Soviet republics. Entries include biographies of famous writers such as Boris Pasternak and Alexander Pushkin, artists such as Vassily Kandinsky and Peter Carl Faberge, and politicians and rulers such as Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev and Catherine the Great. Other topics include Russian relations with individual countries (e.g., Afghanistan, Denmark); economics and trade, including capitalism in Russia, foreign debt, and taxes; major battles and wars such as the Crimean War, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Battle of Leipzig, and World Wars I and II; and arts and science and technology. Each volume includes an 8-page color insert.