Russian MonarchyRussian monarchs have long been regarded as majestic and despotic, ruling over mute and servile subjects in a vast empire isolated from the rest of the European continent. Challenging this view, Cynthia H. Whittaker uncovers a political dialogue about the nature and limitations of monarchy in eighteenth century Russiaan interchange that took place between rulers and writers under the influence of western and central European Enlightenment thinking.