The book is the last pre-revolutionary academic course in history. It was first published in 1912-1914, later it was revised and significantly supplemented. The course consists of 41 lectures. It describes the historical development until the end of the 18th century, describes the position of Russia by the beginning of the 19th century. The events of the 19th century are examined in detail, in these chapters a huge factual material is collected and summarized regarding all historical processes and phenomena of the period.