Memoirs of the prominent historian, publicist and public figure Semion Markovich Dubnov (1860-1941) constitute an encyclopedia of Jewish life in Russia.

Simon Dubnov constructed his memoirs from the diaries that he kept throughout his life; these reflect the rich panorama of events from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early decades of the twentieth century. Dubnow was an active participant, and a witness, to the crucial events of the era, such as the decline of the Jewish enlightenment in Eastern Europe, the emergence and development of Zionism and other political movements, the 1905 and 1917 revolutions and the Russian Civil War. Dubnov lived and worked in centers of Jewish life, such as Odessa, Vilna and St. Petersburg, during years of dramatic changes in the life of the Jewish people. In this memoirs he included vivid portrayals of his friends and colleagues, among them famous authers -   Sholem Aleichem, Byalik, Frug, Leskov, Volyn, as well as public figures: Vinaver, Gruzenberg, Landau, Sliozberg and many others.

The first two parts of the memoir deal with scholarly, social and political life of Russia and Russian Jewry. The third part provides insight into the life of ​​Russian-Jewish immigrants in Europe, where Dubnov resided from 1922 to 1933. This new edition of Dubnov's memoir not only contains a new preface, but significantly supplemented and revised biographical and bibliographical commentaries.

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From the start of military actions in August 1914, the Jewish population of Russia’s World War I frontal zone directly experienced various forms of the Russian army’s hostility: local deportations, executions on trumped-up charges, lootings, and beatings by soldiers and officers became daily tribulations. In January 1915, the supreme command of the Russian army issued a special declaration that termed the Jewish population of both Russia and occupied Galicia – an enemy, warning that harsh repressive measures would be adopted against the Jews. The principal measure was massive expulsions from entire gubernias, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the winter-spring of 1915. When the Russian army withdrew from Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania in the summer-fall of 1915, a large-scale wave of fierce pogroms swept over Jewish towns, and an enormous flood of Jewish refugees inundated the army’s rear. In reaction, the Russian government was forced partially to rescind the Pale of Settlement, thus implementing one of the Jews’ main long-standing demands. These events were a stark manifestation of the systemic crisis encompassing Russia before the revolution.

Goldin's book investigates important aspects of this topic: what in reality did the Jews experience in the zone of the military authorities’ responsibility; how and why did the Russian army declared them enemies in this region, where three quarters of world Jewry were living? Book's analysis of relations between the Russian army and the Jews during the war provides a basis for posing new questions and refining already existing conceptions about the events of 1914-1917.

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