Writers in the west still ignore the history of Russia previous to the reign of Peter the Great, attributing to that monarch reforms he did not initiate, and a policy of which he was not the author and followed but indifferently. The real makers of the Russian nation were the wise Romanofs who preceded the tyrant Peter. The history of the period may be briefly recounted, apart from the story of the construction of the great town--the Moscow of the Tsars. It was under the Tsar Michael that the relations of Russia with the west became general; under Alexis, who succeeded him in 1645, not only were the Poles driven back and other enemies conquered, but those great social and economic reforms were introduced, the working of which subsequently "westernised" Russia. Theodore during his short reign of five years successfully continued what his father had commenced. It was the claims made on behalf of his half-brother Peter that caused the hands of the clock to be set back. The story of Peter is well known, but its teaching has been often misinterpreted. To obtain the truth let the Moscow of Theodore Alexeivich be compared with the Russia of Peter, or of any of his eighteenth century successors. The one exhibits the highest normal achievement of purely Muscovite ideals, and reveals the capacity of Russia to absorb what is nearest akin to its own spirit from among the more progressive motives of the west. Peter crudely grafted a coarse imitation of western forms upon a rarer stock; stagnation and corruption were the result. It was not until the nineteenth century, and the complete abandonment of Peter's policy, that Russia once more advanced towards civilisation.