ABSTRACT
THROUGHOUT MY SCHOLARLY CAREER I have developed most of my ideas in essays and articles rather than monographs. I have preferred to roam over broad topics of Russian history and relate them to general European problems rather than to work on narrow themes in depth. In addition, during much of the first half of my active professional life, Russian archives and libraries were inaccessible, and later on when foreign researchers were given limited access, personal and practical considerations precluded long stays in the Soviet Union. To compensate for my scant work in the archives, I have stressed comparative aspects involving West European institutional and intellectual developments. I am convinced that it is in the realm of comparative history that Russian historians working abroad can make contributions, thanks to their broader perspective and greater familiarity with other experiences. This was (and still is) very much true of Russian historiography because its native practitioners were unable to travel and work abroad and had but limited acquaintance with Western historiography.
