Book excerpt: Given the restrictions on political action and even political discussion in Russia, Russian literary journals have served as the principal means by which Russia discovered, defined and shaped itself. Every issue of importance for literate Russians - social, economic, literary - made its appearance in one way or another on the pages of these journals, and virtually every major Russian novel of the nineteenth century was first published there in serial form. Literary Journals in Imperial Russia - a collection of essays by leading scholars, originally published in 1998 - was the first work to examine the extraordinary history of these journals in imperial Russia. The major social forces and issues that shaped literary journals during the period are analysed, detailed accounts are provided of individual journals and journalists, and descriptions are offered of the factors that contributed to their success.