Russia and the American Revolution

xiv, 277, [3] pp. Translated from the Russian by C. Jay Smith, with a foreword by George Alexander Lensen. From the foreword: "When the American Revolution erupted, the English government solicited Russian help. It was after Catherine the Great refused to provide George III with Russian troops that Hessian soldiers were recruited. Russia proclaimed her armed neutrality in the war and cautiously counseled Britain to make peace with the colonists and to recognize their independence. The present book details the early diplomatic, cultural, and economic relations between Russia and America on the basis of unpublished archival material. It focuses on Russian policy toward the struggling nation and on the impact of the American revolution on Russian thinking. At the same time it offers a new perspective for our perception of events in America by relating how they looked through Russian eyes."