The problem of explaining the process of development of the Russian bureaucracy in the nineteenth century has been eased substantially by the appearance within the last ten years of an extraordinary collection of studies. Some of these have concen- trated on individuals, but by far the most important group of works (Amburger, 1966; Armstrong, 1959, 1973; Orlovsky, 1981; Pintner, 1970, 1975, 1980a, 1980b; Troitskii, 1974; Torke, 1967; Zaionchkovskii, 1964, 1974, 1975, 1978) has dealt with institu- tions and with groups of bureaucrats. Other interesting and helpful essays that summarize or synthesize the many individual findings have also appeared e.g., Raeff (1979), Field (1979), Orlovsky (1976).