2 Quotes by Dominic Lieven

Both generally and in the Russian case it seems to me a mistake to see everything in the imperial tradition as harmful and the nation as the inevitable embodiment of virtue. This is in no sense a justification for neo-empire in today’s world. But empire in its day – unlike very many nations – was often relatively tolerant, pluralist and even occasionally benevolent.

In July and August 1914, fewer than fifty individuals, all of them men, made the decisions that took their countries to war.