TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE


It was originally proposed to give the history of Russian
Jewry after 1825--the year with which the first volume concludes--in a
single volume. This, however, would have resulted in producing a volume
of unwieldy dimensions, entirely out of proportion to the one preceding
it. It has, therefore, become imperative to divide Dubnow's work into
three, instead of into two, volumes. The second volume, which is
herewith offered to the public, treats of the history of Russian Jewry
from the death of Alexander I. (1825) until the death of Alexander III.
(1894). The third and concluding volume will deal with the reign of
Nicholas II., the last of the Romanovs, and will also contain the
bibliographical apparatus, the maps, the index, and other supplementary
material. This division will undoubtedly recommend itself to the reader.
The next volume is partly in type, and will follow as soon as
circumstances permit.

Of the three reigns described in the present volume, that of Alexander
III., though by far the briefest, is treated at considerably greater
length than the others. The reason for it is not far to seek. The events
which occurred during the fourteen years of his reign laid their
indelible impress upon Russian Jewry, and they have had a determining
influence upon the growth and development of American Israel. The
account of Alexander III.'s reign is introduced in the Russian original
by a general characterization of the anti-Jewish policies of Russian
Tzardom. Owing to the rearrangement of the material, to which reference
was made in the preface to the first volume, this introduction, which