The publishing house of “Pushkin fond” (Izdatelstvo “Pushkinskogo fonda”) issued a new book in a series “Gosudarstvennye deyateli Rossii glazami sovremennikov” (Russian statesmen through the eyes of contemporaries) “S.Yu. Witte in the memoirs of contemporaries” composed and edited by I.V. Lukoianov, SPb., 2018 (ISBN 978-5-9500595-2-0).
Sergei Yulyevich Witte had a great influence on the development of Russia. Due to his efforts Russian economy in 1890s-1900s was growing. He saved the monarchy insisting on Nicholas II signing the Manifesto of the October 17th giving Russian people basic civil liberties. Being an opponent to war with Japan Witte wasn’t able to prevent it, but succeeded in making acceptable peace.
Numerous evidences of both associates and opponents of Witte, included in this book, present the readers not only a strong but contradictory person, they also offer a description of conflicting epoch of the two last Russian emperors when the destiny of the country was at stake.