Russia’s Empire Piques the English Reader
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	Robert Lyall (d. 1831) The Character of the Russians, and a Detailed History of Moscow London: T. Cadell, 1823 NYPL, General Research Division In the wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1792 to 1815, Russia and England were allies (except for two brief intervals). England heavily subsidized Russia’s war effort and was also its most valuable trading partner, importing naval stores, lumber, hemp, pitch, and wheat. Although a number of individual Britons had visited or resided in Russia during the 18th century, the British public of the time had little knowledge of the empire’s vast land and peoples. The long common alliance stimulated the publication of a flow of books, prints, and maps describing the Russian ally’s past and present circumstances.