“Mr. Nisbet Bain’s new volume about the makers of Russia could not have appeared at a time more opportune for the attraction of popular interest than the moment when Sir Henry Irving has taken it upon him to interpret for us, on the stage of the Lyceum, the character of Peter the Great. His familiarity with the history and politics of Northern Europe in the last century renders him peculiarly fitted for the task of presenting us with a picture of the Russian Court and Empire up to the death of the Empress Anne.”—_Daily Chronicle._ “Mr. Bain has here put together from authentic sources an interesting and useful book. Without attempting the picturesque, he has written a book that attracts the reader; his judgment is sound, he is unprejudiced and tolerant, and he understands the strange world that he is depicting. His portraits have the great merit of fidelity, and he has a good knowledge of contemporary European politics.”—_Manchester Guardian._ “An excellent piece of historical study, founded entirely on original research, sober, broad, and sympathetic in treatment, with a fine sense of historical proportion, and most illuminating as respects the light it throws on a dark and ill-known time and country.”—_Spectator._ “A lucid and masterly sketch of the slow development of the modern Russian State between the year 1697 and 1740.”—_Daily News._ “Mr. Nisbet Bain is, without question, the best informed student of Northern history who now writes for the British Public, and the volume before us will add to his reputation.”—_Manchester Courier._ WESTMINSTER Archibald Constable and Co 2 WHITEHALL GARDENS 1898 ANNOUNCEMENTS The Life of Sir Charles Tilston Bright By EDWARD BRAILSTON BRIGHT, C.E., AND CHARLES BRIGHT, C.E., F.R.S.E. With many Illustrations, Portraits, and Maps. 2 vols. _Demy 8vo, £3 3s. net. (£2 2s. net to subscribers before publication.)_ * * * * * Debateable Claims A Series of Essays on Secondary Education By JOHN CHARLES TARVER, AUTHOR OF “SOME OBSERVATIONS OF A FOSTER PARENT.” _Crown 8vo, 6s._ * * * * * Dante’s Ten Heavens A Study in the Paradiso By EDMUND GARDNER. _Demy 8vo._ * * * * * A French View of English Contemporary Art By E. DE LA SIZERANNE. Translated by H. M. POYNTER. _Crown 8vo._ * * * * * Highland Dress and Ornament By LORD ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL. _Demy 8vo._ * * * * * Andrée and his Balloon By HENRI LACHAMBRE and ALEXIS MACHURON With coloured Frontispiece and 40 full-page plates. _Crown 8vo. 6s._