'Mark Bassin's Imperial Visions is a work that will be appreciated by specialists in a wide array of disciplines. This is a masterful, groundbreaking book that combines intellectual history and geography in a way that has not been done before, shining a new light on the issues of Russian identity and the interrelationship between exploration, conquest and nationalism.' H-Net '... a solid work of scholarship ... a detailed study for the specialist reader, and a definitive work on a generally neglected aspect of nineteenth-century empire-building which may prove one day to be of great geopolitical importance.' Asian Affairs
