Russia and the Great War: A Brief Calendar of State Practice is a straightforward and user-friendly research tool that meets the authors’ stated goals. Consisting primarily of bibliographical entries for transactions where Russia was either a party to, the subject of, or the location of an act, Russia and the Great War highlights Russia's role in international law and relations over a ten-year period beginning with the commencement of World War I in 1914. The book contains several effective finding tools, is user-friendly, and should serve as an interesting and targeted resource for scholars of Russian foreign policy during the period of World War I.

The introduction to Russia and the Great War sets forth very clearly the structure of the book and what the authors hope to accomplish with its publication. The authors state that “[a] main purpose of the Calendar is to review practice of states on a comparative international basis,” (an approach that examines the ways in which differences in legal culture can affect how nations, state actors, and non-state actors approach international law), and that “[t]he Calendar is intended to support comparative historical research by combining various elements of state practice in a consolidated format.” Thus, the documents included in this Calendar include not only those to which Russia was a party, but also those concerning Russia, and those originating in Russia or for which Russia served as the location of the act.

The strength of the book lies not only in its content, but also in its organization. The entries are arranged chronologically and are broken down by year. Each entry includes detailed information on the act in question, including the parties, location, sources in which it is published, notes on the content, and cross-references to related acts in the Calendar. The book also contains several useful finding tools, including tables that allow the reader to find Calendar entries by location or party, a General Subject Index, and a select bibliography of documentary collections and other sources cited in the Calendar. A chapter containing “Documentary Extracts” toward the back of the book presents translations into English of brief portions of many of the documents included in the Calendar.

Although the Calendar entries are easily navigable and thoroughly cross-referenced, Russia and the Great War contains little, if any, historical narrative or context. Therefore, readers will be left to research independently the history of both Russia and its shifting political regimes during World War I, as well as the history and politics of World War I more generally, if they are to fully understand the Calendar entries. The lack of historical framing, however, in no way detracts from the value of the book as a bibliography or reference work. This book is highly recommended for purchase, particularly by libraries collecting in the areas of Russian and Soviet law, history, or international relations.