This is the first book to portray the history of the Russian secret police - the so-called ''Okhrana'' - its personnel, world view and interaction with both government and people during the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. The secret police harassed, infiltrated and subverted Russian radical and progressive society as it struggled to preserve Tsardom''s traditional political culture in the face of Russia''s rapid socio-economic transformation - a transformation which the forces of order scarcely understood, yet deeply despised.

In 1883, the Russian police established the Foreign Agentura in Paris. The bureau''s brief: to forewarn Tsardom of terrorist plans and, if possible, to defuse acts of terrorism against high personages by revolutionaries operating under European sanctuary. As the revolutionary emigration expanded, the Foreign Agentura reacted by spreading its tentacles across Europe and England. With the help of their European colleagues, the Tsar''s agents tackled and drove back this terrorist force, proving themselves invaluable in the evolution of political policing.

In 1883, the Russian police established the Foreign Agentura in Paris. The bureau's brief: to forewarn Tsardom of terrorist plans and, if possible, to defuse acts of terrorism against high personages by revolutionaries operating under European sanctuary. As the revolutionary emigration expanded, the Foreign Agentura reacted by spreading its tentacles across Europe and England. With the help of their European colleagues, the Tsar's agents tackled and drove back this terrorist force, proving themselves invaluable in the evolution of political policing.

This is the first book to portray the history of the Russian secret police - the so-called ''Okhrana'' - its personnel, world view and interaction with both government and people during the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. The secret police harassed, infiltrated and subverted Russian radical and progressive society as it struggled to preserve Tsardom''s traditional political culture in the face of Russia''s rapid socio-economic transformation - a transformation which the forces of order scarcely understood, yet deeply despised.

In 1883, the Russian police established the Foreign Agentura in Paris. The bureau''s brief: to forewarn Tsardom of terrorist plans and, if possible, to defuse acts of terrorism against high personages by revolutionaries operating under European sanctuary. As the revolutionary emigration expanded, the Foreign Agentura reacted by spreading its tentacles across Europe and England. With the help of their European colleagues, the Tsar''s agents tackled and drove back this terrorist force, proving themselves invaluable in the evolution of political policing.

In 1883, the Russian police established the Foreign Agentura in Paris. The bureau's brief: to forewarn Tsardom of terrorist plans and, if possible, to defuse acts of terrorism against high personages by revolutionaries operating under European sanctuary. As the revolutionary emigration expanded, the Foreign Agentura reacted by spreading its tentacles across Europe and England. With the help of their European colleagues, the Tsar's agents tackled and drove back this terrorist force, proving themselves invaluable in the evolution of political policing.