In this richly researched and highly original study, Alexander M. Martin explores conservatism in Russian thought, politics, and culture during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Tracing the indigenous and foreign origins of conservative ideology through a wide range of sources, he shows how the Russians reacted to threats posed by the egalitarianism of the French Revolution and how this reaction shaped state policy and national consciousness.

Romantics, Reformers, Reactionaries is the first in-depth probe of the origins of Russian conservatism. It will appeal not only to Russian historian but to all readers concerned with political culture and the history of conservative thought.