“Based on outstanding research, Charles Steinwedel’s impressive new book offers a study of the history of Bashkiria in the context of the Russian Empire.”
 — The Russian Review

“This book examines how Russia’s imperial officials and intellectual elites made and maintained their authority among the changing intellectual and political currents in Eurasia from the mid-16th century to the revolution of 1917.”

“Highly recommended. ”
 — Choice

“An original and well-researched study of the incorporation of the Bashkir lands and their transformation into a Russian imperial region over the course of three and a half centuries. Steinwedel argues that the history of Bashkiria exposes a number of the empire’s achievements as a multiethnic society. . . . He draws out both important shifts and abiding continuities in the history of the region [and] by employing a multi-dimensional approach, covering a range of intersecting topics, provides a fuller appreciation for the region. He also does a nice job pointing out the useful commonalities and differences between the Bashkir lands and other parts of the empire, making a compelling case for Bashkiria’s importance for understanding larger processes.”
 — Willard Sunderland, author of Taming the Wild Field: Colonization and Empire on the Russian Steppe

“Charles Steinwedel has written a well-researched study which makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the way the Russian empire functioned. ”
 — European History Quarterly

“Charles Steinwedel has produced an engaging and thoroughly documented history of both the Bashkirs and the multiethnic territory of Bashkiria.”
 — Canadian-American Slavic Studies

“[Steinwedel's] book is both a skilful exercise in local and regional history, and an important contribution to the history of Imperial Russia as a whole. ”
 — Slavonic and East European Review

“With its solid grounding in Russian archival and printed sources and its sophisticated comparative approach, Steinwedel's work will serve as a point of departure for historians of the Russian Empire, and will become a book of reference for any future study of empires in global history.”
 — American Historical Review

“ Threads of Empire is essential reading for students of both Russian imperial history and the history of empires more broadly.”
 — Kritika