What is empire? What does it mean to live in an empire? What unites the three Rome - the Roman, Byzantine and Russian Empire? What is common and what distinguishes between the Russian and British empires? What is the central principle of the Russian Empire? What determined the imperial administration of Central Asia and Transcaucasia by the Russians and how did it differ from the imperial practice of the British in India? How did the colonization of the territories take place? What was the imperial complex of Russians in Soviet times? What does our imperial experience teach us, what have we achieved during our imperial period, what mistakes have we made, how not to repeat them in the future? The author of the book reflects on the answers to these and other questions, relying on rich historical material.