About the book: 2018 / This publication is dedicated to the last three decades of the Russian Empire. Everything was concentrated in this historical period: unresolved age-old problems; attempts to create conditions for a new industrial breakthrough; the fierce struggle of representatives of the old world who did not want to give up their positions - oligarchs, merchants, parasitic aristocracy; the greed and true intentions of our Entente allies, for whom Russia is just a tasty morsel. It was a time of choosing a path, when delay was mortally dangerous. Sensing the country’s sliding into an economic abyss, Nicholas II brought to power a new managerial elite with a fundamentally different attitude towards the state. They are developing and beginning to implement truly great reforms in the most important areas of life: they have finally outlined their own development path worthy of a great power. Who was behind progressive modernization? Did Russia really have a real chance to turn into a real “factory of the world”? It was a time of stunning rise over the economic abyss. Preparations for the launch of a new economic model caused unprecedented concern among the Entente allies. Then the First World War began, and then the February Revolution... A little more than 100 years have passed - and we are faced with the same severity of challenges and unresolved problems of Russian society. On the agenda is the necessary historical legitimation of the state course. A course that returns modern Russia to its own civilizational context. We hope this book will be a step in that direction..