Abstract

The article discusses the recent contributions by Kelly O’Neill and Mara Kozelsky to the history of Crimea from the late 18th century until the Crimean war. It places these contributions within the context of previous historiography on the symbolic and ideological significance of the peninsula for the Tsarist imperial project. It examines how these new scholarly additions increase our understanding of both the history of this particular region and, more importantly, the changing patterns of imperial rule through conquest, integration, and the transformative experience of modern war.