Paul Bushkovitch is Reuben Post Halleck Professor of History at Yale University where he has taught since 1975. He is the author of Religion and Society in Russia: the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1992), Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power (2001) and A Concise History of Russia (2011). He is a Member of the American Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, and a member of the editorial boards of Cahiers du monde russe and Quaestio Rossica.

'In this comprehensive study of succession in early modern Russia, Bushkovitch challenges the traditional theory that the Russian monarchy operated on the principle of hereditary primogeniture. Rather, Bushkovitch offers an insightful view of succession as an evolving practice that contributed to the stability of the Russian state.' Sergei Bogatyrev, University College London

• Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Designation and heredity 1450–1533; 3. Benediction to election 1533–1598; 4. Election and heredity 1598–1645; 5. Succession and the new culture of the court 1645–1689; 6. Peter the Great and succession 1690–1719; 7. Peter's heirs and Feofan Prokopovich 1719–1725; Conclusion; Bibliography.

Paul Bushkovitch is Reuben Post Halleck Professor of History at Yale University where he has taught since 1975. He is the author of Religion and Society in Russia: the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1992), Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power (2001) and A Concise History of Russia (2011). He is a Member of the American Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, and a member of the editorial boards of Cahiers du monde russe and Quaestio Rossica.

'In this comprehensive study of succession in early modern Russia, Bushkovitch challenges the traditional theory that the Russian monarchy operated on the principle of hereditary primogeniture. Rather, Bushkovitch offers an insightful view of succession as an evolving practice that contributed to the stability of the Russian state.' Sergei Bogatyrev, University College London

• Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Designation and heredity 1450–1533; 3. Benediction to election 1533–1598; 4. Election and heredity 1598–1645; 5. Succession and the new culture of the court 1645–1689; 6. Peter the Great and succession 1690–1719; 7. Peter's heirs and Feofan Prokopovich 1719–1725; Conclusion; Bibliography.

Paul Bushkovitch is Reuben Post Halleck Professor of History at Yale University where he has taught since 1975. He is the author of Religion and Society in Russia: the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1992), Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power (2001) and A Concise History of Russia (2011). He is a Member of the American Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, and a member of the editorial boards of Cahiers du monde russe and Quaestio Rossica.

'In this comprehensive study of succession in early modern Russia, Bushkovitch challenges the traditional theory that the Russian monarchy operated on the principle of hereditary primogeniture. Rather, Bushkovitch offers an insightful view of succession as an evolving practice that contributed to the stability of the Russian state.' Sergei Bogatyrev, University College London

• Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Designation and heredity 1450–1533; 3. Benediction to election 1533–1598; 4. Election and heredity 1598–1645; 5. Succession and the new culture of the court 1645–1689; 6. Peter the Great and succession 1690–1719; 7. Peter's heirs and Feofan Prokopovich 1719–1725; Conclusion; Bibliography.