'Truth about Russia': Russia in Britain at the fin de siècle

This chapter examines British cultural interest in Russia at the end of the century. It documents the variety of ways in which the British came to know Russia at the time, drawing attention to an obsession with the melodrama of Russian politics, typically mythologised as a stand-off between the autocratic Tzarist regime and the Nihilist revolutionaries. It surveys a wide range of Nihilist inspired literature, looking in detail at the contrasting responses to Russia to be found in the works of W. T. Stead, and those of the Russian exile Sergey Stepniak.